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diff --git a/699-0.txt b/699-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d51babc --- /dev/null +++ b/699-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15242 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of A Child’s History of England, by Charles Dickens + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: A Child’s History of England + +Author: Charles Dickens + +Release Date: October, 1996 [eBook #699] +[Most recently updated: January 30, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: David Price + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + + + + +A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND + +By CHARLES DICKENS + +With Illustrations by F. H. Townsend and others + +LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, ld. +NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS +1905 + + +Contents + + CHAPTER I ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + CHAPTER II ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + CHAPTER III ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + CHAPTER IV ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + CHAPTER V ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + CHAPTER VI ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR + CHAPTER VII ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE NORMANS + CHAPTER VIII ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR + CHAPTER IX ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS + CHAPTER X ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR + CHAPTER XI ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN + CHAPTER XII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND + CHAPTER XIII ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART + CHAPTER XIV ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND + CHAPTER XV ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER + CHAPTER XVI ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS + CHAPTER XVII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND + CHAPTER XVIII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD + CHAPTER XIX ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND + CHAPTER XX ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE + CHAPTER XXI ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH + CHAPTER XXII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH + CHAPTER XXIII ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH + CHAPTER XXIV ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH + CHAPTER XXV ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD + CHAPTER XXVI ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH + CHAPTER XXVII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY KING HARRY + CHAPTER XXVIII ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH + CHAPTER XXIX ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH + CHAPTER XXX ENGLAND UNDER MARY + CHAPTER XXXI ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH + CHAPTER XXXII ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST + CHAPTER XXXIII ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST + CHAPTER XXXIV ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL + CHAPTER XXXV ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH + CHAPTER XXXVI ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND + CHAPTER XXXVII + + + + +CHAPTER I +ANCIENT ENGLAND AND THE ROMANS + + +If you look at a Map of the World, you will see, in the left-hand upper +corner of the Eastern Hemisphere, two Islands lying in the sea. They +are England and Scotland, and Ireland. England and Scotland form the +greater part of these Islands. Ireland is the next in size. The little +neighbouring islands, which are so small upon the Map as to be mere +dots, are chiefly little bits of Scotland,—broken off, I dare say, in +the course of a great length of time, by the power of the restless +water. + +In the old days, a long, long while ago, before Our Saviour was born on +earth and lay asleep in a manger, these Islands were in the same place, +and the stormy sea roared round them, just as it roars now. But the sea +was not alive, then, with great ships and brave sailors, sailing to and +from all parts of the world. It was very lonely. The Islands lay +solitary, in the great expanse of water. The foaming waves dashed +against their cliffs, and the bleak winds blew over their forests; but +the winds and waves brought no adventurers to land upon the Islands, +and the savage Islanders knew nothing of the rest of the world, and the +rest of the world knew nothing of them. + +It is supposed that the Phœnicians, who were an ancient people, famous +for carrying on trade, came in ships to these Islands, and found that +they produced tin and lead; both very useful things, as you know, and +both produced to this very hour upon the sea-coast. The most celebrated +tin mines in Cornwall are, still, close to the sea. One of them, which +I have seen, is so close to it that it is hollowed out underneath the +ocean; and the miners say, that in stormy weather, when they are at +work down in that deep place, they can hear the noise of the waves +thundering above their heads. So, the Phœnicians, coasting about the +Islands, would come, without much difficulty, to where the tin and lead +were. + +The Phœnicians traded with the Islanders for these metals, and gave the +Islanders some other useful things in exchange. The Islanders were, at +first, poor savages, going almost naked, or only dressed in the rough +skins of beasts, and staining their bodies, as other savages do, with +coloured earths and the juices of plants. But the Phœnicians, sailing +over to the opposite coasts of France and Belgium, and saying to the +people there, ‘We have been to those white cliffs across the water, +which you can see in fine weather, and from that country, which is +called Britain, we bring this tin and lead,’ tempted some of the French +and Belgians to come over also. These people settled themselves on the +south coast of England, which is now called Kent; and, although they +were a rough people too, they taught the savage Britons some useful +arts, and improved that part of the Islands. It is probable that other +people came over from Spain to Ireland, and settled there. + +Thus, by little and little, strangers became mixed with the Islanders, +and the savage Britons grew into a wild, bold people; almost savage, +still, especially in the interior of the country away from the sea +where the foreign settlers seldom went; but hardy, brave, and strong. + +The whole country was covered with forests, and swamps. The greater +part of it was very misty and cold. There were no roads, no bridges, no +streets, no houses that you would think deserving of the name. A town +was nothing but a collection of straw-covered huts, hidden in a thick +wood, with a ditch all round, and a low wall, made of mud, or the +trunks of trees placed one upon another. The people planted little or +no corn, but lived upon the flesh of their flocks and cattle. They made +no coins, but used metal rings for money. They were clever in +basket-work, as savage people often are; and they could make a coarse +kind of cloth, and some very bad earthenware. But in building +fortresses they were much more clever. + +They made boats of basket-work, covered with the skins of animals, but +seldom, if ever, ventured far from the shore. They made swords, of +copper mixed with tin; but, these swords were of an awkward shape, and +so soft that a heavy blow would bend one. They made light shields, +short pointed daggers, and spears—which they jerked back after they had +thrown them at an enemy, by a long strip of leather fastened to the +stem. The butt-end was a rattle, to frighten an enemy’s horse. The +ancient Britons, being divided into as many as thirty or forty tribes, +each commanded by its own little king, were constantly fighting with +one another, as savage people usually do; and they always fought with +these weapons. + +They were very fond of horses. The standard of Kent was the picture of +a white horse. They could break them in and manage them wonderfully +well. Indeed, the horses (of which they had an abundance, though they +were rather small) were so well taught in those days, that they can +scarcely be said to have improved since; though the men are so much +wiser. They understood, and obeyed, every word of command; and would +stand still by themselves, in all the din and noise of battle, while +their masters went to fight on foot. The Britons could not have +succeeded in their most remarkable art, without the aid of these +sensible and trusty animals. The art I mean, is the construction and +management of war-chariots or cars, for which they have ever been +celebrated in history. Each of the best sort of these chariots, not +quite breast high in front, and open at the back, contained one man to +drive, and two or three others to fight—all standing up. The horses who +drew them were so well trained, that they would tear, at full gallop, +over the most stony ways, and even through the woods; dashing down +their masters’ enemies beneath their hoofs, and cutting them to pieces +with the blades of swords, or scythes, which were fastened to the +wheels, and stretched out beyond the car on each side, for that cruel +purpose. In a moment, while at full speed, the horses would stop, at +the driver’s command. The men within would leap out, deal blows about +them with their swords like hail, leap on the horses, on the pole, +spring back into the chariots anyhow; and, as soon as they were safe, +the horses tore away again. + +The Britons had a strange and terrible religion, called the Religion of +the Druids. It seems to have been brought over, in very early times +indeed, from the opposite country of France, anciently called Gaul, and +to have mixed up the worship of the Serpent, and of the Sun and Moon, +with the worship of some of the Heathen Gods and Goddesses. Most of its +ceremonies were kept secret by the priests, the Druids, who pretended +to be enchanters, and who carried magicians’ wands, and wore, each of +them, about his neck, what he told the ignorant people was a Serpent’s +egg in a golden case. But it is certain that the Druidical ceremonies +included the sacrifice of human victims, the torture of some suspected +criminals, and, on particular occasions, even the burning alive, in +immense wicker cages, of a number of men and animals together. The +Druid Priests had some kind of veneration for the Oak, and for the +mistletoe—the same plant that we hang up in houses at Christmas Time +now—when its white berries grew upon the Oak. They met together in dark +woods, which they called Sacred Groves; and there they instructed, in +their mysterious arts, young men who came to them as pupils, and who +sometimes stayed with them as long as twenty years. + +These Druids built great Temples and altars, open to the sky, fragments +of some of which are yet remaining. Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, in +Wiltshire, is the most extraordinary of these. Three curious stones, +called Kits Coty House, on Bluebell Hill, near Maidstone, in Kent, form +another. We know, from examination of the great blocks of which such +buildings are made, that they could not have been raised without the +aid of some ingenious machines, which are common now, but which the +ancient Britons certainly did not use in making their own uncomfortable +houses. I should not wonder if the Druids, and their pupils who stayed +with them twenty years, knowing more than the rest of the Britons, kept +the people out of sight while they made these buildings, and then +pretended that they built them by magic. Perhaps they had a hand in the +fortresses too; at all events, as they were very powerful, and very +much believed in, and as they made and executed the laws, and paid no +taxes, I don’t wonder that they liked their trade. And, as they +persuaded the people the more Druids there were, the better off the +people would be, I don’t wonder that there were a good many of them. +But it is pleasant to think that there are no Druids, _now_, who go on +in that way, and pretend to carry Enchanters’ Wands and Serpents’ +Eggs—and of course there is nothing of the kind, anywhere. + +Such was the improved condition of the ancient Britons, fifty-five +years before the birth of Our Saviour, when the Romans, under their +great General, Julius Cæsar, were masters of all the rest of the known +world. Julius Cæsar had then just conquered Gaul; and hearing, in Gaul, +a good deal about the opposite Island with the white cliffs, and about +the bravery of the Britons who inhabited it—some of whom had been +fetched over to help the Gauls in the war against him—he resolved, as +he was so near, to come and conquer Britain next. + +So, Julius Cæsar came sailing over to this Island of ours, with eighty +vessels and twelve thousand men. And he came from the French coast +between Calais and Boulogne, ‘because thence was the shortest passage +into Britain;’ just for the same reason as our steam-boats now take the +same track, every day. He expected to conquer Britain easily: but it +was not such easy work as he supposed—for the bold Britons fought most +bravely; and, what with not having his horse-soldiers with him (for +they had been driven back by a storm), and what with having some of his +vessels dashed to pieces by a high tide after they were drawn ashore, +he ran great risk of being totally defeated. However, for once that the +bold Britons beat him, he beat them twice; though not so soundly but +that he was very glad to accept their proposals of peace, and go away. + +But, in the spring of the next year, he came back; this time, with +eight hundred vessels and thirty thousand men. The British tribes +chose, as their general-in-chief, a Briton, whom the Romans in their +Latin language called Cassivellaunus, but whose British name is +supposed to have been Caswallon. A brave general he was, and well he +and his soldiers fought the Roman army! So well, that whenever in that +war the Roman soldiers saw a great cloud of dust, and heard the rattle +of the rapid British chariots, they trembled in their hearts. Besides a +number of smaller battles, there was a battle fought near Canterbury, +in Kent; there was a battle fought near Chertsey, in Surrey; there was +a battle fought near a marshy little town in a wood, the capital of +that part of Britain which belonged to Cassivellaunus, and which was +probably near what is now Saint Albans, in Hertfordshire. However, +brave Cassivellaunus had the worst of it, on the whole; though he and +his men always fought like lions. As the other British chiefs were +jealous of him, and were always quarrelling with him, and with one +another, he gave up, and proposed peace. Julius Cæsar was very glad to +grant peace easily, and to go away again with all his remaining ships +and men. He had expected to find pearls in Britain, and he may have +found a few for anything I know; but, at all events, he found delicious +oysters, and I am sure he found tough Britons—of whom, I dare say, he +made the same complaint as Napoleon Bonaparte the great French General +did, eighteen hundred years afterwards, when he said they were such +unreasonable fellows that they never knew when they were beaten. They +never _did_ know, I believe, and never will. + +Nearly a hundred years passed on, and all that time, there was peace in +Britain. The Britons improved their towns and mode of life: became more +civilised, travelled, and learnt a great deal from the Gauls and +Romans. At last, the Roman Emperor, Claudius, sent Aulus Plautius, a +skilful general, with a mighty force, to subdue the Island, and shortly +afterwards arrived himself. They did little; and Ostorius Scapula, +another general, came. Some of the British Chiefs of Tribes submitted. +Others resolved to fight to the death. Of these brave men, the bravest +was Caractacus, or Caradoc, who gave battle to the Romans, with his +army, among the mountains of North Wales. ‘This day,’ said he to his +soldiers, ‘decides the fate of Britain! Your liberty, or your eternal +slavery, dates from this hour. Remember your brave ancestors, who drove +the great Cæsar himself across the sea!’ On hearing these words, his +men, with a great shout, rushed upon the Romans. But the strong Roman +swords and armour were too much for the weaker British weapons in close +conflict. The Britons lost the day. The wife and daughter of the brave +Caractacus were taken prisoners; his brothers delivered themselves up; +he himself was betrayed into the hands of the Romans by his false and +base stepmother: and they carried him, and all his family, in triumph +to Rome. + +But a great man will be great in misfortune, great in prison, great in +chains. His noble air, and dignified endurance of distress, so touched +the Roman people who thronged the streets to see him, that he and his +family were restored to freedom. No one knows whether his great heart +broke, and he died in Rome, or whether he ever returned to his own dear +country. English oaks have grown up from acorns, and withered away, +when they were hundreds of years old—and other oaks have sprung up in +their places, and died too, very aged—since the rest of the history of +the brave Caractacus was forgotten. + +Still, the Britons _would not_ yield. They rose again and again, and +died by thousands, sword in hand. They rose, on every possible +occasion. Suetonius, another Roman general, came, and stormed the +Island of Anglesey (then called Mona), which was supposed to be sacred, +and he burnt the Druids in their own wicker cages, by their own fires. +But, even while he was in Britain, with his victorious troops, the +Britons rose. Because Boadicea, a British queen, the widow of the King +of the Norfolk and Suffolk people, resisted the plundering of her +property by the Romans who were settled in England, she was scourged, +by order of Catus a Roman officer; and her two daughters were +shamefully insulted in her presence, and her husband’s relations were +made slaves. To avenge this injury, the Britons rose, with all their +might and rage. They drove Catus into Gaul; they laid the Roman +possessions waste; they forced the Romans out of London, then a poor +little town, but a trading place; they hanged, burnt, crucified, and +slew by the sword, seventy thousand Romans in a few days. Suetonius +strengthened his army, and advanced to give them battle. They +strengthened their army, and desperately attacked his, on the field +where it was strongly posted. Before the first charge of the Britons +was made, Boadicea, in a war-chariot, with her fair hair streaming in +the wind, and her injured daughters lying at her feet, drove among the +troops, and cried to them for vengeance on their oppressors, the +licentious Romans. The Britons fought to the last; but they were +vanquished with great slaughter, and the unhappy queen took poison. + +Still, the spirit of the Britons was not broken. When Suetonius left +the country, they fell upon his troops, and retook the Island of +Anglesey. Agricola came, fifteen or twenty years afterwards, and retook +it once more, and devoted seven years to subduing the country, +especially that part of it which is now called Scotland; but, its +people, the Caledonians, resisted him at every inch of ground. They +fought the bloodiest battles with him; they killed their very wives and +children, to prevent his making prisoners of them; they fell, fighting, +in such great numbers that certain hills in Scotland are yet supposed +to be vast heaps of stones piled up above their graves. Hadrian came, +thirty years afterwards, and still they resisted him. Severus came, +nearly a hundred years afterwards, and they worried his great army like +dogs, and rejoiced to see them die, by thousands, in the bogs and +swamps. Caracalla, the son and successor of Severus, did the most to +conquer them, for a time; but not by force of arms. He knew how little +that would do. He yielded up a quantity of land to the Caledonians, and +gave the Britons the same privileges as the Romans possessed. There was +peace, after this, for seventy years. + +Then new enemies arose. They were the Saxons, a fierce, sea-faring +people from the countries to the North of the Rhine, the great river of +Germany on the banks of which the best grapes grow to make the German +wine. They began to come, in pirate ships, to the sea-coast of Gaul and +Britain, and to plunder them. They were repulsed by Carausius, a native +either of Belgium or of Britain, who was appointed by the Romans to the +command, and under whom the Britons first began to fight upon the sea. +But, after this time, they renewed their ravages. A few years more, and +the Scots (which was then the name for the people of Ireland), and the +Picts, a northern people, began to make frequent plundering incursions +into the South of Britain. All these attacks were repeated, at +intervals, during two hundred years, and through a long succession of +Roman Emperors and chiefs; during all which length of time, the Britons +rose against the Romans, over and over again. At last, in the days of +the Roman Honorius, when the Roman power all over the world was fast +declining, and when Rome wanted all her soldiers at home, the Romans +abandoned all hope of conquering Britain, and went away. And still, at +last, as at first, the Britons rose against them, in their old brave +manner; for, a very little while before, they had turned away the Roman +magistrates, and declared themselves an independent people. + +Five hundred years had passed, since Julius Cæsar’s first invasion of +the Island, when the Romans departed from it for ever. In the course of +that time, although they had been the cause of terrible fighting and +bloodshed, they had done much to improve the condition of the Britons. +They had made great military roads; they had built forts; they had +taught them how to dress, and arm themselves, much better than they had +ever known how to do before; they had refined the whole British way of +living. Agricola had built a great wall of earth, more than seventy +miles long, extending from Newcastle to beyond Carlisle, for the +purpose of keeping out the Picts and Scots; Hadrian had strengthened +it; Severus, finding it much in want of repair, had built it afresh of +stone. + +Above all, it was in the Roman time, and by means of Roman ships, that +the Christian Religion was first brought into Britain, and its people +first taught the great lesson that, to be good in the sight of God, +they must love their neighbours as themselves, and do unto others as +they would be done by. The Druids declared that it was very wicked to +believe in any such thing, and cursed all the people who did believe +it, very heartily. But, when the people found that they were none the +better for the blessings of the Druids, and none the worse for the +curses of the Druids, but, that the sun shone and the rain fell without +consulting the Druids at all, they just began to think that the Druids +were mere men, and that it signified very little whether they cursed or +blessed. After which, the pupils of the Druids fell off greatly in +numbers, and the Druids took to other trades. + +Thus I have come to the end of the Roman time in England. It is but +little that is known of those five hundred years; but some remains of +them are still found. Often, when labourers are digging up the ground, +to make foundations for houses or churches, they light on rusty money +that once belonged to the Romans. Fragments of plates from which they +ate, of goblets from which they drank, and of pavement on which they +trod, are discovered among the earth that is broken by the plough, or +the dust that is crumbled by the gardener’s spade. Wells that the +Romans sunk, still yield water; roads that the Romans made, form part +of our highways. In some old battle-fields, British spear-heads and +Roman armour have been found, mingled together in decay, as they fell +in the thick pressure of the fight. Traces of Roman camps overgrown +with grass, and of mounds that are the burial-places of heaps of +Britons, are to be seen in almost all parts of the country. Across the +bleak moors of Northumberland, the wall of Severus, overrun with moss +and weeds, still stretches, a strong ruin; and the shepherds and their +dogs lie sleeping on it in the summer weather. On Salisbury Plain, +Stonehenge yet stands: a monument of the earlier time when the Roman +name was unknown in Britain, and when the Druids, with their best magic +wands, could not have written it in the sands of the wild sea-shore. + + + + +CHAPTER II +ANCIENT ENGLAND UNDER THE EARLY SAXONS + + +The Romans had scarcely gone away from Britain, when the Britons began +to wish they had never left it. For, the Romans being gone, and the +Britons being much reduced in numbers by their long wars, the Picts and +Scots came pouring in, over the broken and unguarded wall of Severus, +in swarms. They plundered the richest towns, and killed the people; and +came back so often for more booty and more slaughter, that the +unfortunate Britons lived a life of terror. As if the Picts and Scots +were not bad enough on land, the Saxons attacked the islanders by sea; +and, as if something more were still wanting to make them miserable, +they quarrelled bitterly among themselves as to what prayers they ought +to say, and how they ought to say them. The priests, being very angry +with one another on these questions, cursed one another in the +heartiest manner; and (uncommonly like the old Druids) cursed all the +people whom they could not persuade. So, altogether, the Britons were +very badly off, you may believe. + +They were in such distress, in short, that they sent a letter to Rome +entreating help—which they called the Groans of the Britons; and in +which they said, ‘The barbarians chase us into the sea, the sea throws +us back upon the barbarians, and we have only the hard choice left us +of perishing by the sword, or perishing by the waves.’ But, the Romans +could not help them, even if they were so inclined; for they had enough +to do to defend themselves against their own enemies, who were then +very fierce and strong. At last, the Britons, unable to bear their hard +condition any longer, resolved to make peace with the Saxons, and to +invite the Saxons to come into their country, and help them to keep out +the Picts and Scots. + +It was a British Prince named Vortigern who took this resolution, and +who made a treaty of friendship with Hengist and Horsa, two Saxon +chiefs. Both of these names, in the old Saxon language, signify Horse; +for the Saxons, like many other nations in a rough state, were fond of +giving men the names of animals, as Horse, Wolf, Bear, Hound. The +Indians of North America,—a very inferior people to the Saxons, +though—do the same to this day. + +Hengist and Horsa drove out the Picts and Scots; and Vortigern, being +grateful to them for that service, made no opposition to their settling +themselves in that part of England which is called the Isle of Thanet, +or to their inviting over more of their countrymen to join them. But +Hengist had a beautiful daughter named Rowena; and when, at a feast, +she filled a golden goblet to the brim with wine, and gave it to +Vortigern, saying in a sweet voice, ‘Dear King, thy health!’ the King +fell in love with her. My opinion is, that the cunning Hengist meant +him to do so, in order that the Saxons might have greater influence +with him; and that the fair Rowena came to that feast, golden goblet +and all, on purpose. + +At any rate, they were married; and, long afterwards, whenever the King +was angry with the Saxons, or jealous of their encroachments, Rowena +would put her beautiful arms round his neck, and softly say, ‘Dear +King, they are my people! Be favourable to them, as you loved that +Saxon girl who gave you the golden goblet of wine at the feast!’ And, +really, I don’t see how the King could help himself. + +Ah! We must all die! In the course of years, Vortigern died—he was +dethroned, and put in prison, first, I am afraid; and Rowena died; and +generations of Saxons and Britons died; and events that happened during +a long, long time, would have been quite forgotten but for the tales +and songs of the old Bards, who used to go about from feast to feast, +with their white beards, recounting the deeds of their forefathers. +Among the histories of which they sang and talked, there was a famous +one, concerning the bravery and virtues of King Arthur, supposed to +have been a British Prince in those old times. But, whether such a +person really lived, or whether there were several persons whose +histories came to be confused together under that one name, or whether +all about him was invention, no one knows. + +I will tell you, shortly, what is most interesting in the early Saxon +times, as they are described in these songs and stories of the Bards. + +In, and long after, the days of Vortigern, fresh bodies of Saxons, +under various chiefs, came pouring into Britain. One body, conquering +the Britons in the East, and settling there, called their kingdom +Essex; another body settled in the West, and called their kingdom +Wessex; the Northfolk, or Norfolk people, established themselves in one +place; the Southfolk, or Suffolk people, established themselves in +another; and gradually seven kingdoms or states arose in England, which +were called the Saxon Heptarchy. The poor Britons, falling back before +these crowds of fighting men whom they had innocently invited over as +friends, retired into Wales and the adjacent country; into Devonshire, +and into Cornwall. Those parts of England long remained unconquered. +And in Cornwall now—where the sea-coast is very gloomy, steep, and +rugged—where, in the dark winter-time, ships have often been wrecked +close to the land, and every soul on board has perished—where the winds +and waves howl drearily and split the solid rocks into arches and +caverns—there are very ancient ruins, which the people call the ruins +of King Arthur’s Castle. + +Kent is the most famous of the seven Saxon kingdoms, because the +Christian religion was preached to the Saxons there (who domineered +over the Britons too much, to care for what _they_ said about their +religion, or anything else) by Augustine, a monk from Rome. King +Ethelbert, of Kent, was soon converted; and the moment he said he was a +Christian, his courtiers all said _they_ were Christians; after which, +ten thousand of his subjects said they were Christians too. Augustine +built a little church, close to this King’s palace, on the ground now +occupied by the beautiful cathedral of Canterbury. Sebert, the King’s +nephew, built on a muddy marshy place near London, where there had been +a temple to Apollo, a church dedicated to Saint Peter, which is now +Westminster Abbey. And, in London itself, on the foundation of a temple +to Diana, he built another little church which has risen up, since that +old time, to be Saint Paul’s. + +After the death of Ethelbert, Edwin, King of Northumbria, who was such +a good king that it was said a woman or child might openly carry a +purse of gold, in his reign, without fear, allowed his child to be +baptised, and held a great council to consider whether he and his +people should all be Christians or not. It was decided that they should +be. Coifi, the chief priest of the old religion, made a great speech on +the occasion. In this discourse, he told the people that he had found +out the old gods to be impostors. ‘I am quite satisfied of it,’ he +said. ‘Look at me! I have been serving them all my life, and they have +done nothing for me; whereas, if they had been really powerful, they +could not have decently done less, in return for all I have done for +them, than make my fortune. As they have never made my fortune, I am +quite convinced they are impostors!’ When this singular priest had +finished speaking, he hastily armed himself with sword and lance, +mounted a war-horse, rode at a furious gallop in sight of all the +people to the temple, and flung his lance against it as an insult. From +that time, the Christian religion spread itself among the Saxons, and +became their faith. + +The next very famous prince was Egbert. He lived about a hundred and +fifty years afterwards, and claimed to have a better right to the +throne of Wessex than Beortric, another Saxon prince who was at the +head of that kingdom, and who married Edburga, the daughter of Offa, +king of another of the seven kingdoms. This Queen Edburga was a +handsome murderess, who poisoned people when they offended her. One +day, she mixed a cup of poison for a certain noble belonging to the +court; but her husband drank of it too, by mistake, and died. Upon +this, the people revolted, in great crowds; and running to the palace, +and thundering at the gates, cried, ‘Down with the wicked queen, who +poisons men!’ They drove her out of the country, and abolished the +title she had disgraced. When years had passed away, some travellers +came home from Italy, and said that in the town of Pavia they had seen +a ragged beggar-woman, who had once been handsome, but was then +shrivelled, bent, and yellow, wandering about the streets, crying for +bread; and that this beggar-woman was the poisoning English queen. It +was, indeed, Edburga; and so she died, without a shelter for her +wretched head. + +Egbert, not considering himself safe in England, in consequence of his +having claimed the crown of Wessex (for he thought his rival might take +him prisoner and put him to death), sought refuge at the court of +Charlemagne, King of France. On the death of Beortric, so unhappily +poisoned by mistake, Egbert came back to Britain; succeeded to the +throne of Wessex; conquered some of the other monarchs of the seven +kingdoms; added their territories to his own; and, for the first time, +called the country over which he ruled, England. + +And now, new enemies arose, who, for a long time, troubled England +sorely. These were the Northmen, the people of Denmark and Norway, whom +the English called the Danes. They were a warlike people, quite at home +upon the sea; not Christians; very daring and cruel. They came over in +ships, and plundered and burned wheresoever they landed. Once, they +beat Egbert in battle. Once, Egbert beat them. But, they cared no more +for being beaten than the English themselves. In the four following +short reigns, of Ethelwulf, and his sons, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and +Ethelred, they came back, over and over again, burning and plundering, +and laying England waste. In the last-mentioned reign, they seized +Edmund, King of East England, and bound him to a tree. Then, they +proposed to him that he should change his religion; but he, being a +good Christian, steadily refused. Upon that, they beat him, made +cowardly jests upon him, all defenceless as he was, shot arrows at him, +and, finally, struck off his head. It is impossible to say whose head +they might have struck off next, but for the death of King Ethelred +from a wound he had received in fighting against them, and the +succession to his throne of the best and wisest king that ever lived in +England. + + + + +CHAPTER III +ENGLAND UNDER THE GOOD SAXON, ALFRED + + +Alfred the Great was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age, when +he became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken to Rome, +where the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeys which +they supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed for some time +in Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for, then, that at +twelve years old he had not been taught to read; although, of the sons +of King Ethelwulf, he, the youngest, was the favourite. But he had—as +most men who grow up to be great and good are generally found to have +had—an excellent mother; and, one day, this lady, whose name was +Osburga, happened, as she was sitting among her sons, to read a book of +Saxon poetry. The art of printing was not known until long and long +after that period, and the book, which was written, was what is called +‘illuminated,’ with beautiful bright letters, richly painted. The +brothers admiring it very much, their mother said, ‘I will give it to +that one of you four princes who first learns to read.’ Alfred sought +out a tutor that very day, applied himself to learn with great +diligence, and soon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life. + +This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought nine battles +with the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, by which the false +Danes swore they would quit the country. They pretended to consider +that they had taken a very solemn oath, in swearing this upon the holy +bracelets that they wore, and which were always buried with them when +they died; but they cared little for it, for they thought nothing of +breaking oaths and treaties too, as soon as it suited their purpose, +and coming back again to fight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal +winter, in the fourth year of King Alfred’s reign, they spread +themselves in great numbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed +and routed the King’s soldiers that the King was left alone, and was +obliged to disguise himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in +the cottage of one of his cowherds who did not know his face. + +Here, King Alfred, while the Danes sought him far and near, was left +alone one day, by the cowherd’s wife, to watch some cakes which she put +to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon his bow and arrows, +with which he hoped to punish the false Danes when a brighter time +should come, and thinking deeply of his poor unhappy subjects whom the +Danes chased through the land, his noble mind forgot the cakes, and +they were burnt. ‘What!’ said the cowherd’s wife, who scolded him well +when she came back, and little thought she was scolding the King, ‘you +will be ready enough to eat them by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch +them, idle dog?’ + +At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Danes who +landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured their flag; on +which was represented the likeness of a Raven—a very fit bird for a +thievish army like that, I think. The loss of their standard troubled +the Danes greatly, for they believed it to be enchanted—woven by the +three daughters of one father in a single afternoon—and they had a +story among themselves that when they were victorious in battle, the +Raven stretched his wings and seemed to fly; and that when they were +defeated, he would droop. He had good reason to droop, now, if he could +have done anything half so sensible; for, King Alfred joined the +Devonshire men; made a camp with them on a piece of firm ground in the +midst of a bog in Somersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for +vengeance on the Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people. + +But, first, as it was important to know how numerous those pestilent +Danes were, and how they were fortified, King Alfred, being a good +musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel, and went, with +his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang in the very tent of +Guthrum the Danish leader, and entertained the Danes as they caroused. +While he seemed to think of nothing but his music, he was watchful of +their tents, their arms, their discipline, everything that he desired +to know. And right soon did this great king entertain them to a +different tune; for, summoning all his true followers to meet him at an +appointed place, where they received him with joyful shouts and tears, +as the monarch whom many of them had given up for lost or dead, he put +himself at their head, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes +with great slaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent +their escape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then, +instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that they should +altogether depart from that Western part of England, and settle in the +East; and that Guthrum should become a Christian, in remembrance of the +Divine religion which now taught his conqueror, the noble Alfred, to +forgive the enemy who had so often injured him. This, Guthrum did. At +his baptism, King Alfred was his godfather. And Guthrum was an +honourable chief who well deserved that clemency; for, ever afterwards +he was loyal and faithful to the king. The Danes under him were +faithful too. They plundered and burned no more, but worked like honest +men. They ploughed, and sowed, and reaped, and led good honest English +lives. And I hope the children of those Danes played, many a time, with +Saxon children in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell in +love with Saxon girls, and married them; and that English travellers, +benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often went in for shelter +until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by the red fire, friends, +talking of King Alfred the Great. + +All the Danes were not like these under Guthrum; for, after some years, +more of them came over, in the old plundering and burning way—among +them a fierce pirate of the name of Hastings, who had the boldness to +sail up the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships. For three years, +there was a war with these Danes; and there was a famine in the +country, too, and a plague, both upon human creatures and beasts. But +King Alfred, whose mighty heart never failed him, built large ships +nevertheless, with which to pursue the pirates on the sea; and he +encouraged his soldiers, by his brave example, to fight valiantly +against them on the shore. At last, he drove them all away; and then +there was repose in England. + +As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, King +Alfred never rested from his labours to improve his people. He loved to +talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreign countries, and +to write down what they told him, for his people to read. He had +studied Latin after learning to read English, and now another of his +labours was, to translate Latin books into the English-Saxon tongue, +that his people might be interested, and improved by their contents. He +made just laws, that they might live more happily and freely; he turned +away all partial judges, that no wrong might be done them; he was so +careful of their property, and punished robbers so severely, that it +was a common thing to say that under the great King Alfred, garlands of +golden chains and jewels might have hung across the streets, and no man +would have touched one. He founded schools; he patiently heard causes +himself in his Court of Justice; the great desires of his heart were, +to do right to all his subjects, and to leave England better, wiser, +happier in all ways, than he found it. His industry in these efforts +was quite astonishing. Every day he divided into certain portions, and +in each portion devoted himself to a certain pursuit. That he might +divide his time exactly, he had wax torches or candles made, which were +all of the same size, were notched across at regular distances, and +were always kept burning. Thus, as the candles burnt down, he divided +the day into notches, almost as accurately as we now divide it into +hours upon the clock. But when the candles were first invented, it was +found that the wind and draughts of air, blowing into the palace +through the doors and windows, and through the chinks in the walls, +caused them to gutter and burn unequally. To prevent this, the King had +them put into cases formed of wood and white horn. And these were the +first lanthorns ever made in England. + +All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease, which +caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing could relieve. He +bore it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life, like a brave +good man, until he was fifty-three years old; and then, having reigned +thirty years, he died. He died in the year nine hundred and one; but, +long ago as that is, his fame, and the love and gratitude with which +his subjects regarded him, are freshly remembered to the present hour. + +In the next reign, which was the reign of Edward, surnamed The Elder, +who was chosen in council to succeed, a nephew of King Alfred troubled +the country by trying to obtain the throne. The Danes in the East of +England took part with this usurper (perhaps because they had honoured +his uncle so much, and honoured him for his uncle’s sake), and there +was hard fighting; but, the King, with the assistance of his sister, +gained the day, and reigned in peace for four and twenty years. He +gradually extended his power over the whole of England, and so the +Seven Kingdoms were united into one. + +When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king, the +Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundred and fifty +years. Great changes had taken place in its customs during that time. +The Saxons were still greedy eaters and great drinkers, and their +feasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind; but many new comforts +and even elegances had become known, and were fast increasing. Hangings +for the walls of rooms, where, in these modern days, we paste up paper, +are known to have been sometimes made of silk, ornamented with birds +and flowers in needlework. Tables and chairs were curiously carved in +different woods; were sometimes decorated with gold or silver; +sometimes even made of those precious metals. Knives and spoons were +used at table; golden ornaments were worn—with silk and cloth, and +golden tissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver, +brass and bone. There were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads, +musical instruments. A harp was passed round, at a feast, like the +drinking-bowl, from guest to guest; and each one usually sang or played +when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutly made, and +among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadly blows, and was +long remembered. The Saxons themselves were a handsome people. The men +were proud of their long fair hair, parted on the forehead; their ample +beards, their fresh complexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the +Saxon women filled all England with a new delight and grace. + +I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now, +because under the Great Alfred, all the best points of the +English-Saxon character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. +It has been the greatest character among the nations of the earth. +Wherever the descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed, or +otherwise made their way, even to the remotest regions of the world, +they have been patient, persevering, never to be broken in spirit, +never to be turned aside from enterprises on which they have resolved. +In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the whole world over; in the desert, +in the forest, on the sea; scorched by a burning sun, or frozen by ice +that never melts; the Saxon blood remains unchanged. Wheresoever that +race goes, there, law, and industry, and safety for life and property, +and all the great results of steady perseverance, are certain to arise. + +I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in his single +person, possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortune could not +subdue, whom prosperity could not spoil, whose perseverance nothing +could shake. Who was hopeful in defeat, and generous in success. Who +loved justice, freedom, truth, and knowledge. Who, in his care to +instruct his people, probably did more to preserve the beautiful old +Saxon language, than I can imagine. Without whom, the English tongue in +which I tell this story might have wanted half its meaning. As it is +said that his spirit still inspires some of our best English laws, so, +let you and I pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least to +this—to resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left in +ignorance, that we will do our best, while life is in us, to have them +taught; and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to teach them, and +who neglect their duty, that they have profited very little by all the +years that have rolled away since the year nine hundred and one, and +that they are far behind the bright example of King Alfred the Great. + + + + +CHAPTER IV +ENGLAND UNDER ATHELSTAN AND THE SIX BOY-KINGS + + +Athelstan, the son of Edward the Elder, succeeded that king. He reigned +only fifteen years; but he remembered the glory of his grandfather, the +great Alfred, and governed England well. He reduced the turbulent +people of Wales, and obliged them to pay him a tribute in money, and in +cattle, and to send him their best hawks and hounds. He was victorious +over the Cornish men, who were not yet quite under the Saxon +government. He restored such of the old laws as were good, and had +fallen into disuse; made some wise new laws, and took care of the poor +and weak. A strong alliance, made against him by Anlaf a Danish prince, +Constantine King of the Scots, and the people of North Wales, he broke +and defeated in one great battle, long famous for the vast numbers +slain in it. After that, he had a quiet reign; the lords and ladies +about him had leisure to become polite and agreeable; and foreign +princes were glad (as they have sometimes been since) to come to +England on visits to the English court. + +When Athelstan died, at forty-seven years old, his brother Edmund, who +was only eighteen, became king. He was the first of six boy-kings, as +you will presently know. + +They called him the Magnificent, because he showed a taste for +improvement and refinement. But he was beset by the Danes, and had a +short and troubled reign, which came to a troubled end. One night, when +he was feasting in his hall, and had eaten much and drunk deep, he saw, +among the company, a noted robber named Leof, who had been banished +from England. Made very angry by the boldness of this man, the King +turned to his cup-bearer, and said, ‘There is a robber sitting at the +table yonder, who, for his crimes, is an outlaw in the land—a hunted +wolf, whose life any man may take, at any time. Command that robber to +depart!’ ‘I will not depart!’ said Leof. ‘No?’ cried the King. ‘No, by +the Lord!’ said Leof. Upon that the King rose from his seat, and, +making passionately at the robber, and seizing him by his long hair, +tried to throw him down. But the robber had a dagger underneath his +cloak, and, in the scuffle, stabbed the King to death. That done, he +set his back against the wall, and fought so desperately, that although +he was soon cut to pieces by the King’s armed men, and the wall and +pavement were splashed with his blood, yet it was not before he had +killed and wounded many of them. You may imagine what rough lives the +kings of those times led, when one of them could struggle, half drunk, +with a public robber in his own dining-hall, and be stabbed in presence +of the company who ate and drank with him. + +Then succeeded the boy-king Edred, who was weak and sickly in body, but +of a strong mind. And his armies fought the Northmen, the Danes, and +Norwegians, or the Sea-Kings, as they were called, and beat them for +the time. And, in nine years, Edred died, and passed away. + +Then came the boy-king Edwy, fifteen years of age; but the real king, +who had the real power, was a monk named Dunstan—a clever priest, a +little mad, and not a little proud and cruel. + +Dunstan was then Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, whither the body of King +Edmund the Magnificent was carried, to be buried. While yet a boy, he +had got out of his bed one night (being then in a fever), and walked +about Glastonbury Church when it was under repair; and, because he did +not tumble off some scaffolds that were there, and break his neck, it +was reported that he had been shown over the building by an angel. He +had also made a harp that was said to play of itself—which it very +likely did, as Æolian Harps, which are played by the wind, and are +understood now, always do. For these wonders he had been once denounced +by his enemies, who were jealous of his favour with the late King +Athelstan, as a magician; and he had been waylaid, bound hand and foot, +and thrown into a marsh. But he got out again, somehow, to cause a +great deal of trouble yet. + +The priests of those days were, generally, the only scholars. They were +learned in many things. Having to make their own convents and +monasteries on uncultivated grounds that were granted to them by the +Crown, it was necessary that they should be good farmers and good +gardeners, or their lands would have been too poor to support them. For +the decoration of the chapels where they prayed, and for the comfort of +the refectories where they ate and drank, it was necessary that there +should be good carpenters, good smiths, good painters, among them. For +their greater safety in sickness and accident, living alone by +themselves in solitary places, it was necessary that they should study +the virtues of plants and herbs, and should know how to dress cuts, +burns, scalds, and bruises, and how to set broken limbs. Accordingly, +they taught themselves, and one another, a great variety of useful +arts; and became skilful in agriculture, medicine, surgery, and +handicraft. And when they wanted the aid of any little piece of +machinery, which would be simple enough now, but was marvellous then, +to impose a trick upon the poor peasants, they knew very well how to +make it; and _did_ make it many a time and often, I have no doubt. + +Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, was one of the most sagacious of +these monks. He was an ingenious smith, and worked at a forge in a +little cell. This cell was made too short to admit of his lying at full +length when he went to sleep—as if _that_ did any good to anybody!—and +he used to tell the most extraordinary lies about demons and spirits, +who, he said, came there to persecute him. For instance, he related +that one day when he was at work, the devil looked in at the little +window, and tried to tempt him to lead a life of idle pleasure; +whereupon, having his pincers in the fire, red hot, he seized the devil +by the nose, and put him to such pain, that his bellowings were heard +for miles and miles. Some people are inclined to think this nonsense a +part of Dunstan’s madness (for his head never quite recovered the +fever), but I think not. I observe that it induced the ignorant people +to consider him a holy man, and that it made him very powerful. Which +was exactly what he always wanted. + +On the day of the coronation of the handsome boy-king Edwy, it was +remarked by Odo, Archbishop of Canterbury (who was a Dane by birth), +that the King quietly left the coronation feast, while all the company +were there. Odo, much displeased, sent his friend Dunstan to seek him. +Dunstan finding him in the company of his beautiful young wife Elgiva, +and her mother Ethelgiva, a good and virtuous lady, not only grossly +abused them, but dragged the young King back into the feasting-hall by +force. Some, again, think Dunstan did this because the young King’s +fair wife was his own cousin, and the monks objected to people marrying +their own cousins; but I believe he did it, because he was an +imperious, audacious, ill-conditioned priest, who, having loved a young +lady himself before he became a sour monk, hated all love now, and +everything belonging to it. + +The young King was quite old enough to feel this insult. Dunstan had +been Treasurer in the last reign, and he soon charged Dunstan with +having taken some of the last king’s money. The Glastonbury Abbot fled +to Belgium (very narrowly escaping some pursuers who were sent to put +out his eyes, as you will wish they had, when you read what follows), +and his abbey was given to priests who were married; whom he always, +both before and afterwards, opposed. But he quickly conspired with his +friend, Odo the Dane, to set up the King’s young brother, Edgar, as his +rival for the throne; and, not content with this revenge, he caused the +beautiful queen Elgiva, though a lovely girl of only seventeen or +eighteen, to be stolen from one of the Royal Palaces, branded in the +cheek with a red-hot iron, and sold into slavery in Ireland. But the +Irish people pitied and befriended her; and they said, ‘Let us restore +the girl-queen to the boy-king, and make the young lovers happy!’ and +they cured her of her cruel wound, and sent her home as beautiful as +before. But the villain Dunstan, and that other villain, Odo, caused +her to be waylaid at Gloucester as she was joyfully hurrying to join +her husband, and to be hacked and hewn with swords, and to be +barbarously maimed and lamed, and left to die. When Edwy the Fair (his +people called him so, because he was so young and handsome) heard of +her dreadful fate, he died of a broken heart; and so the pitiful story +of the poor young wife and husband ends! Ah! Better to be two cottagers +in these better times, than king and queen of England in those bad +days, though never so fair! + +Then came the boy-king, Edgar, called the Peaceful, fifteen years old. +Dunstan, being still the real king, drove all married priests out of +the monasteries and abbeys, and replaced them by solitary monks like +himself, of the rigid order called the Benedictines. He made himself +Archbishop of Canterbury, for his greater glory; and exercised such +power over the neighbouring British princes, and so collected them +about the King, that once, when the King held his court at Chester, and +went on the river Dee to visit the monastery of St. John, the eight +oars of his boat were pulled (as the people used to delight in relating +in stories and songs) by eight crowned kings, and steered by the King +of England. As Edgar was very obedient to Dunstan and the monks, they +took great pains to represent him as the best of kings. But he was +really profligate, debauched, and vicious. He once forcibly carried off +a young lady from the convent at Wilton; and Dunstan, pretending to be +very much shocked, condemned him not to wear his crown upon his head +for seven years—no great punishment, I dare say, as it can hardly have +been a more comfortable ornament to wear, than a stewpan without a +handle. His marriage with his second wife, Elfrida, is one of the worst +events of his reign. Hearing of the beauty of this lady, he despatched +his favourite courtier, Athelwold, to her father’s castle in +Devonshire, to see if she were really as charming as fame reported. +Now, she was so exceedingly beautiful that Athelwold fell in love with +her himself, and married her; but he told the King that she was only +rich—not handsome. The King, suspecting the truth when they came home, +resolved to pay the newly-married couple a visit; and, suddenly, told +Athelwold to prepare for his immediate coming. Athelwold, terrified, +confessed to his young wife what he had said and done, and implored her +to disguise her beauty by some ugly dress or silly manner, that he +might be safe from the King’s anger. She promised that she would; but +she was a proud woman, who would far rather have been a queen than the +wife of a courtier. She dressed herself in her best dress, and adorned +herself with her richest jewels; and when the King came, presently, he +discovered the cheat. So, he caused his false friend, Athelwold, to be +murdered in a wood, and married his widow, this bad Elfrida. Six or +seven years afterwards, he died; and was buried, as if he had been all +that the monks said he was, in the abbey of Glastonbury, which he—or +Dunstan for him—had much enriched. + +England, in one part of this reign, was so troubled by wolves, which, +driven out of the open country, hid themselves in the mountains of +Wales when they were not attacking travellers and animals, that the +tribute payable by the Welsh people was forgiven them, on condition of +their producing, every year, three hundred wolves’ heads. And the +Welshmen were so sharp upon the wolves, to save their money, that in +four years there was not a wolf left. + +Then came the boy-king, Edward, called the Martyr, from the manner of +his death. Elfrida had a son, named Ethelred, for whom she claimed the +throne; but Dunstan did not choose to favour him, and he made Edward +king. The boy was hunting, one day, down in Dorsetshire, when he rode +near to Corfe Castle, where Elfrida and Ethelred lived. Wishing to see +them kindly, he rode away from his attendants and galloped to the +castle gate, where he arrived at twilight, and blew his hunting-horn. +‘You are welcome, dear King,’ said Elfrida, coming out, with her +brightest smiles. ‘Pray you dismount and enter.’ ‘Not so, dear madam,’ +said the King. ‘My company will miss me, and fear that I have met with +some harm. Please you to give me a cup of wine, that I may drink here, +in the saddle, to you and to my little brother, and so ride away with +the good speed I have made in riding here.’ Elfrida, going in to bring +the wine, whispered to an armed servant, one of her attendants, who +stole out of the darkening gateway, and crept round behind the King’s +horse. As the King raised the cup to his lips, saying, ‘Health!’ to the +wicked woman who was smiling on him, and to his innocent brother whose +hand she held in hers, and who was only ten years old, this armed man +made a spring and stabbed him in the back. He dropped the cup and +spurred his horse away; but, soon fainting with loss of blood, dropped +from the saddle, and, in his fall, entangled one of his feet in the +stirrup. The frightened horse dashed on; trailing his rider’s curls +upon the ground; dragging his smooth young face through ruts, and +stones, and briers, and fallen leaves, and mud; until the hunters, +tracking the animal’s course by the King’s blood, caught his bridle, +and released the disfigured body. + +Then came the sixth and last of the boy-kings, Ethelred, whom Elfrida, +when he cried out at the sight of his murdered brother riding away from +the castle gate, unmercifully beat with a torch which she snatched from +one of the attendants. The people so disliked this boy, on account of +his cruel mother and the murder she had done to promote him, that +Dunstan would not have had him for king, but would have made Edgitha, +the daughter of the dead King Edgar, and of the lady whom he stole out +of the convent at Wilton, Queen of England, if she would have +consented. But she knew the stories of the youthful kings too well, and +would not be persuaded from the convent where she lived in peace; so, +Dunstan put Ethelred on the throne, having no one else to put there, +and gave him the nickname of The Unready—knowing that he wanted +resolution and firmness. + +At first, Elfrida possessed great influence over the young King, but, +as he grew older and came of age, her influence declined. The infamous +woman, not having it in her power to do any more evil, then retired +from court, and, according, to the fashion of the time, built churches +and monasteries, to expiate her guilt. As if a church, with a steeple +reaching to the very stars, would have been any sign of true repentance +for the blood of the poor boy, whose murdered form was trailed at his +horse’s heels! As if she could have buried her wickedness beneath the +senseless stones of the whole world, piled up one upon another, for the +monks to live in! + +About the ninth or tenth year of this reign, Dunstan died. He was +growing old then, but was as stern and artful as ever. Two +circumstances that happened in connexion with him, in this reign of +Ethelred, made a great noise. Once, he was present at a meeting of the +Church, when the question was discussed whether priests should have +permission to marry; and, as he sat with his head hung down, apparently +thinking about it, a voice seemed to come out of a crucifix in the +room, and warn the meeting to be of his opinion. This was some juggling +of Dunstan’s, and was probably his own voice disguised. But he played +off a worse juggle than that, soon afterwards; for, another meeting +being held on the same subject, and he and his supporters being seated +on one side of a great room, and their opponents on the other, he rose +and said, ‘To Christ himself, as judge, do I commit this cause!’ +Immediately on these words being spoken, the floor where the opposite +party sat gave way, and some were killed and many wounded. You may be +pretty sure that it had been weakened under Dunstan’s direction, and +that it fell at Dunstan’s signal. _His_ part of the floor did not go +down. No, no. He was too good a workman for that. + +When he died, the monks settled that he was a Saint, and called him +Saint Dunstan ever afterwards. They might just as well have settled +that he was a coach-horse, and could just as easily have called him +one. + +Ethelred the Unready was glad enough, I dare say, to be rid of this +holy saint; but, left to himself, he was a poor weak king, and his +reign was a reign of defeat and shame. The restless Danes, led by +Sweyn, a son of the King of Denmark who had quarrelled with his father +and had been banished from home, again came into England, and, year +after year, attacked and despoiled large towns. To coax these sea-kings +away, the weak Ethelred paid them money; but, the more money he paid, +the more money the Danes wanted. At first, he gave them ten thousand +pounds; on their next invasion, sixteen thousand pounds; on their next +invasion, four and twenty thousand pounds: to pay which large sums, the +unfortunate English people were heavily taxed. But, as the Danes still +came back and wanted more, he thought it would be a good plan to marry +into some powerful foreign family that would help him with soldiers. +So, in the year one thousand and two, he courted and married Emma, the +sister of Richard Duke of Normandy; a lady who was called the Flower of +Normandy. + +And now, a terrible deed was done in England, the like of which was +never done on English ground before or since. On the thirteenth of +November, in pursuance of secret instructions sent by the King over the +whole country, the inhabitants of every town and city armed, and +murdered all the Danes who were their neighbours. + +Young and old, babies and soldiers, men and women, every Dane was +killed. No doubt there were among them many ferocious men who had done +the English great wrong, and whose pride and insolence, in swaggering +in the houses of the English and insulting their wives and daughters, +had become unbearable; but no doubt there were also among them many +peaceful Christian Danes who had married English women and become like +English men. They were all slain, even to Gunhilda, the sister of the +King of Denmark, married to an English lord; who was first obliged to +see the murder of her husband and her child, and then was killed +herself. + +When the King of the sea-kings heard of this deed of blood, he swore +that he would have a great revenge. He raised an army, and a mightier +fleet of ships than ever yet had sailed to England; and in all his army +there was not a slave or an old man, but every soldier was a free man, +and the son of a free man, and in the prime of life, and sworn to be +revenged upon the English nation, for the massacre of that dread +thirteenth of November, when his countrymen and countrywomen, and the +little children whom they loved, were killed with fire and sword. And +so, the sea-kings came to England in many great ships, each bearing the +flag of its own commander. Golden eagles, ravens, dragons, dolphins, +beasts of prey, threatened England from the prows of those ships, as +they came onward through the water; and were reflected in the shining +shields that hung upon their sides. The ship that bore the standard of +the King of the sea-kings was carved and painted like a mighty serpent; +and the King in his anger prayed that the Gods in whom he trusted might +all desert him, if his serpent did not strike its fangs into England’s +heart. + +And indeed it did. For, the great army landing from the great fleet, +near Exeter, went forward, laying England waste, and striking their +lances in the earth as they advanced, or throwing them into rivers, in +token of their making all the island theirs. In remembrance of the +black November night when the Danes were murdered, wheresoever the +invaders came, they made the Saxons prepare and spread for them great +feasts; and when they had eaten those feasts, and had drunk a curse to +England with wild rejoicings, they drew their swords, and killed their +Saxon entertainers, and marched on. For six long years they carried on +this war: burning the crops, farmhouses, barns, mills, granaries; +killing the labourers in the fields; preventing the seed from being +sown in the ground; causing famine and starvation; leaving only heaps +of ruin and smoking ashes, where they had found rich towns. To crown +this misery, English officers and men deserted, and even the favourites +of Ethelred the Unready, becoming traitors, seized many of the English +ships, turned pirates against their own country, and aided by a storm +occasioned the loss of nearly the whole English navy. + +There was but one man of note, at this miserable pass, who was true to +his country and the feeble King. He was a priest, and a brave one. For +twenty days, the Archbishop of Canterbury defended that city against +its Danish besiegers; and when a traitor in the town threw the gates +open and admitted them, he said, in chains, ‘I will not buy my life +with money that must be extorted from the suffering people. Do with me +what you please!’ Again and again, he steadily refused to purchase his +release with gold wrung from the poor. + +At last, the Danes being tired of this, and being assembled at a +drunken merry-making, had him brought into the feasting-hall. + +‘Now, bishop,’ they said, ‘we want gold!’ + +He looked round on the crowd of angry faces; from the shaggy beards +close to him, to the shaggy beards against the walls, where men were +mounted on tables and forms to see him over the heads of others: and he +knew that his time was come. + +‘I have no gold,’ he said. + +‘Get it, bishop!’ they all thundered. + +‘That, I have often told you I will not,’ said he. + +They gathered closer round him, threatening, but he stood unmoved. +Then, one man struck him; then, another; then a cursing soldier picked +up from a heap in a corner of the hall, where fragments had been rudely +thrown at dinner, a great ox-bone, and cast it at his face, from which +the blood came spurting forth; then, others ran to the same heap, and +knocked him down with other bones, and bruised and battered him; until +one soldier whom he had baptised (willing, as I hope for the sake of +that soldier’s soul, to shorten the sufferings of the good man) struck +him dead with his battle-axe. + +If Ethelred had had the heart to emulate the courage of this noble +archbishop, he might have done something yet. But he paid the Danes +forty-eight thousand pounds, instead, and gained so little by the +cowardly act, that Sweyn soon afterwards came over to subdue all +England. So broken was the attachment of the English people, by this +time, to their incapable King and their forlorn country which could not +protect them, that they welcomed Sweyn on all sides, as a deliverer. +London faithfully stood out, as long as the King was within its walls; +but, when he sneaked away, it also welcomed the Dane. Then, all was +over; and the King took refuge abroad with the Duke of Normandy, who +had already given shelter to the King’s wife, once the Flower of that +country, and to her children. + +Still, the English people, in spite of their sad sufferings, could not +quite forget the great King Alfred and the Saxon race. When Sweyn died +suddenly, in little more than a month after he had been proclaimed King +of England, they generously sent to Ethelred, to say that they would +have him for their King again, ‘if he would only govern them better +than he had governed them before.’ The Unready, instead of coming +himself, sent Edward, one of his sons, to make promises for him. At +last, he followed, and the English declared him King. The Danes +declared Canute, the son of Sweyn, King. Thus, direful war began again, +and lasted for three years, when the Unready died. And I know of +nothing better that he did, in all his reign of eight and thirty years. + +Was Canute to be King now? Not over the Saxons, they said; they must +have Edmund, one of the sons of the Unready, who was surnamed Ironside, +because of his strength and stature. Edmund and Canute thereupon fell +to, and fought five battles—O unhappy England, what a fighting-ground +it was!—and then Ironside, who was a big man, proposed to Canute, who +was a little man, that they two should fight it out in single combat. +If Canute had been the big man, he would probably have said yes, but, +being the little man, he decidedly said no. However, he declared that +he was willing to divide the kingdom—to take all that lay north of +Watling Street, as the old Roman military road from Dover to Chester +was called, and to give Ironside all that lay south of it. Most men +being weary of so much bloodshed, this was done. But Canute soon became +sole King of England; for Ironside died suddenly within two months. +Some think that he was killed, and killed by Canute’s orders. No one +knows. + + + + +CHAPTER V +ENGLAND UNDER CANUTE THE DANE + + +Canute reigned eighteen years. He was a merciless King at first. After +he had clasped the hands of the Saxon chiefs, in token of the sincerity +with which he swore to be just and good to them in return for their +acknowledging him, he denounced and slew many of them, as well as many +relations of the late King. ‘He who brings me the head of one of my +enemies,’ he used to say, ‘shall be dearer to me than a brother.’ And +he was so severe in hunting down his enemies, that he must have got +together a pretty large family of these dear brothers. He was strongly +inclined to kill Edmund and Edward, two children, sons of poor +Ironside; but, being afraid to do so in England, he sent them over to +the King of Sweden, with a request that the King would be so good as +‘dispose of them.’ If the King of Sweden had been like many, many other +men of that day, he would have had their innocent throats cut; but he +was a kind man, and brought them up tenderly. + +Normandy ran much in Canute’s mind. In Normandy were the two children +of the late king—Edward and Alfred by name; and their uncle the Duke +might one day claim the crown for them. But the Duke showed so little +inclination to do so now, that he proposed to Canute to marry his +sister, the widow of The Unready; who, being but a showy flower, and +caring for nothing so much as becoming a queen again, left her children +and was wedded to him. + +Successful and triumphant, assisted by the valour of the English in his +foreign wars, and with little strife to trouble him at home, Canute had +a prosperous reign, and made many improvements. He was a poet and a +musician. He grew sorry, as he grew older, for the blood he had shed at +first; and went to Rome in a Pilgrim’s dress, by way of washing it out. +He gave a great deal of money to foreigners on his journey; but he took +it from the English before he started. On the whole, however, he +certainly became a far better man when he had no opposition to contend +with, and was as great a King as England had known for some time. + +The old writers of history relate how that Canute was one day disgusted +with his courtiers for their flattery, and how he caused his chair to +be set on the sea-shore, and feigned to command the tide as it came up +not to wet the edge of his robe, for the land was his; how the tide +came up, of course, without regarding him; and how he then turned to +his flatterers, and rebuked them, saying, what was the might of any +earthly king, to the might of the Creator, who could say unto the sea, +‘Thus far shalt thou go, and no farther!’ We may learn from this, I +think, that a little sense will go a long way in a king; and that +courtiers are not easily cured of flattery, nor kings of a liking for +it. If the courtiers of Canute had not known, long before, that the +King was fond of flattery, they would have known better than to offer +it in such large doses. And if they had not known that he was vain of +this speech (anything but a wonderful speech it seems to me, if a good +child had made it), they would not have been at such great pains to +repeat it. I fancy I see them all on the sea-shore together; the King’s +chair sinking in the sand; the King in a mighty good humour with his +own wisdom; and the courtiers pretending to be quite stunned by it! + +It is not the sea alone that is bidden to go ‘thus far, and no +farther.’ The great command goes forth to all the kings upon the earth, +and went to Canute in the year one thousand and thirty-five, and +stretched him dead upon his bed. Beside it, stood his Norman wife. +Perhaps, as the King looked his last upon her, he, who had so often +thought distrustfully of Normandy, long ago, thought once more of the +two exiled Princes in their uncle’s court, and of the little favour +they could feel for either Danes or Saxons, and of a rising cloud in +Normandy that slowly moved towards England. + + + + +CHAPTER VI +ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD HAREFOOT, HARDICANUTE, AND EDWARD THE CONFESSOR + + +Canute left three sons, by name Sweyn, Harold, and Hardicanute; but his +Queen, Emma, once the Flower of Normandy, was the mother of only +Hardicanute. Canute had wished his dominions to be divided between the +three, and had wished Harold to have England; but the Saxon people in +the South of England, headed by a nobleman with great possessions, +called the powerful Earl Godwin (who is said to have been originally a +poor cow-boy), opposed this, and desired to have, instead, either +Hardicanute, or one of the two exiled Princes who were over in +Normandy. It seemed so certain that there would be more bloodshed to +settle this dispute, that many people left their homes, and took refuge +in the woods and swamps. Happily, however, it was agreed to refer the +whole question to a great meeting at Oxford, which decided that Harold +should have all the country north of the Thames, with London for his +capital city, and that Hardicanute should have all the south. The +quarrel was so arranged; and, as Hardicanute was in Denmark troubling +himself very little about anything but eating and getting drunk, his +mother and Earl Godwin governed the south for him. + +They had hardly begun to do so, and the trembling people who had hidden +themselves were scarcely at home again, when Edward, the elder of the +two exiled Princes, came over from Normandy with a few followers, to +claim the English Crown. His mother Emma, however, who only cared for +her last son Hardicanute, instead of assisting him, as he expected, +opposed him so strongly with all her influence that he was very soon +glad to get safely back. His brother Alfred was not so fortunate. +Believing in an affectionate letter, written some time afterwards to +him and his brother, in his mother’s name (but whether really with or +without his mother’s knowledge is now uncertain), he allowed himself to +be tempted over to England, with a good force of soldiers, and landing +on the Kentish coast, and being met and welcomed by Earl Godwin, +proceeded into Surrey, as far as the town of Guildford. Here, he and +his men halted in the evening to rest, having still the Earl in their +company; who had ordered lodgings and good cheer for them. But, in the +dead of the night, when they were off their guard, being divided into +small parties sleeping soundly after a long march and a plentiful +supper in different houses, they were set upon by the King’s troops, +and taken prisoners. Next morning they were drawn out in a line, to the +number of six hundred men, and were barbarously tortured and killed; +with the exception of every tenth man, who was sold into slavery. As to +the wretched Prince Alfred, he was stripped naked, tied to a horse and +sent away into the Isle of Ely, where his eyes were torn out of his +head, and where in a few days he miserably died. I am not sure that the +Earl had wilfully entrapped him, but I suspect it strongly. + +Harold was now King all over England, though it is doubtful whether the +Archbishop of Canterbury (the greater part of the priests were Saxons, +and not friendly to the Danes) ever consented to crown him. Crowned or +uncrowned, with the Archbishop’s leave or without it, he was King for +four years: after which short reign he died, and was buried; having +never done much in life but go a hunting. He was such a fast runner at +this, his favourite sport, that the people called him Harold Harefoot. + +Hardicanute was then at Bruges, in Flanders, plotting, with his mother +(who had gone over there after the cruel murder of Prince Alfred), for +the invasion of England. The Danes and Saxons, finding themselves +without a King, and dreading new disputes, made common cause, and +joined in inviting him to occupy the Throne. He consented, and soon +troubled them enough; for he brought over numbers of Danes, and taxed +the people so insupportably to enrich those greedy favourites that +there were many insurrections, especially one at Worcester, where the +citizens rose and killed his tax-collectors; in revenge for which he +burned their city. He was a brutal King, whose first public act was to +order the dead body of poor Harold Harefoot to be dug up, beheaded, and +thrown into the river. His end was worthy of such a beginning. He fell +down drunk, with a goblet of wine in his hand, at a wedding-feast at +Lambeth, given in honour of the marriage of his standard-bearer, a Dane +named Towed the Proud. And he never spoke again. + +Edward, afterwards called by the monks The Confessor, succeeded; and +his first act was to oblige his mother Emma, who had favoured him so +little, to retire into the country; where she died some ten years +afterwards. He was the exiled prince whose brother Alfred had been so +foully killed. He had been invited over from Normandy by Hardicanute, +in the course of his short reign of two years, and had been handsomely +treated at court. His cause was now favoured by the powerful Earl +Godwin, and he was soon made King. This Earl had been suspected by the +people, ever since Prince Alfred’s cruel death; he had even been tried +in the last reign for the Prince’s murder, but had been pronounced not +guilty; chiefly, as it was supposed, because of a present he had made +to the swinish King, of a gilded ship with a figure-head of solid gold, +and a crew of eighty splendidly armed men. It was his interest to help +the new King with his power, if the new King would help him against the +popular distrust and hatred. So they made a bargain. Edward the +Confessor got the Throne. The Earl got more power and more land, and +his daughter Editha was made queen; for it was a part of their compact +that the King should take her for his wife. + +But, although she was a gentle lady, in all things worthy to be +beloved—good, beautiful, sensible, and kind—the King from the first +neglected her. Her father and her six proud brothers, resenting this +cold treatment, harassed the King greatly by exerting all their power +to make him unpopular. Having lived so long in Normandy, he preferred +the Normans to the English. He made a Norman Archbishop, and Norman +Bishops; his great officers and favourites were all Normans; he +introduced the Norman fashions and the Norman language; in imitation of +the state custom of Normandy, he attached a great seal to his state +documents, instead of merely marking them, as the Saxon Kings had done, +with the sign of the cross—just as poor people who have never been +taught to write, now make the same mark for their names. All this, the +powerful Earl Godwin and his six proud sons represented to the people +as disfavour shown towards the English; and thus they daily increased +their own power, and daily diminished the power of the King. + +They were greatly helped by an event that occurred when he had reigned +eight years. Eustace, Earl of Bologne, who had married the King’s +sister, came to England on a visit. After staying at the court some +time, he set forth, with his numerous train of attendants, to return +home. They were to embark at Dover. Entering that peaceful town in +armour, they took possession of the best houses, and noisily demanded +to be lodged and entertained without payment. One of the bold men of +Dover, who would not endure to have these domineering strangers +jingling their heavy swords and iron corselets up and down his house, +eating his meat and drinking his strong liquor, stood in his doorway +and refused admission to the first armed man who came there. The armed +man drew, and wounded him. The man of Dover struck the armed man dead. +Intelligence of what he had done, spreading through the streets to +where the Count Eustace and his men were standing by their horses, +bridle in hand, they passionately mounted, galloped to the house, +surrounded it, forced their way in (the doors and windows being closed +when they came up), and killed the man of Dover at his own fireside. +They then clattered through the streets, cutting down and riding over +men, women, and children. This did not last long, you may believe. The +men of Dover set upon them with great fury, killed nineteen of the +foreigners, wounded many more, and, blockading the road to the port so +that they should not embark, beat them out of the town by the way they +had come. Hereupon, Count Eustace rides as hard as man can ride to +Gloucester, where Edward is, surrounded by Norman monks and Norman +lords. ‘Justice!’ cries the Count, ‘upon the men of Dover, who have set +upon and slain my people!’ The King sends immediately for the powerful +Earl Godwin, who happens to be near; reminds him that Dover is under +his government; and orders him to repair to Dover and do military +execution on the inhabitants. ‘It does not become you,’ says the proud +Earl in reply, ‘to condemn without a hearing those whom you have sworn +to protect. I will not do it.’ + +The King, therefore, summoned the Earl, on pain of banishment and loss +of his titles and property, to appear before the court to answer this +disobedience. The Earl refused to appear. He, his eldest son Harold, +and his second son Sweyn, hastily raised as many fighting men as their +utmost power could collect, and demanded to have Count Eustace and his +followers surrendered to the justice of the country. The King, in his +turn, refused to give them up, and raised a strong force. After some +treaty and delay, the troops of the great Earl and his sons began to +fall off. The Earl, with a part of his family and abundance of +treasure, sailed to Flanders; Harold escaped to Ireland; and the power +of the great family was for that time gone in England. But, the people +did not forget them. + +Then, Edward the Confessor, with the true meanness of a mean spirit, +visited his dislike of the once powerful father and sons upon the +helpless daughter and sister, his unoffending wife, whom all who saw +her (her husband and his monks excepted) loved. He seized rapaciously +upon her fortune and her jewels, and allowing her only one attendant, +confined her in a gloomy convent, of which a sister of his—no doubt an +unpleasant lady after his own heart—was abbess or jailer. + +Having got Earl Godwin and his six sons well out of his way, the King +favoured the Normans more than ever. He invited over William, Duke Of +Normandy, the son of that Duke who had received him and his murdered +brother long ago, and of a peasant girl, a tanner’s daughter, with whom +that Duke had fallen in love for her beauty as he saw her washing +clothes in a brook. William, who was a great warrior, with a passion +for fine horses, dogs, and arms, accepted the invitation; and the +Normans in England, finding themselves more numerous than ever when he +arrived with his retinue, and held in still greater honour at court +than before, became more and more haughty towards the people, and were +more and more disliked by them. + +The old Earl Godwin, though he was abroad, knew well how the people +felt; for, with part of the treasure he had carried away with him, he +kept spies and agents in his pay all over England. + +Accordingly, he thought the time was come for fitting out a great +expedition against the Norman-loving King. With it, he sailed to the +Isle of Wight, where he was joined by his son Harold, the most gallant +and brave of all his family. And so the father and son came sailing up +the Thames to Southwark; great numbers of the people declaring for +them, and shouting for the English Earl and the English Harold, against +the Norman favourites! + +The King was at first as blind and stubborn as kings usually have been +whensoever they have been in the hands of monks. But the people rallied +so thickly round the old Earl and his son, and the old Earl was so +steady in demanding without bloodshed the restoration of himself and +his family to their rights, that at last the court took the alarm. The +Norman Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Norman Bishop of London, +surrounded by their retainers, fought their way out of London, and +escaped from Essex to France in a fishing-boat. The other Norman +favourites dispersed in all directions. The old Earl and his sons +(except Sweyn, who had committed crimes against the law) were restored +to their possessions and dignities. Editha, the virtuous and lovely +Queen of the insensible King, was triumphantly released from her +prison, the convent, and once more sat in her chair of state, arrayed +in the jewels of which, when she had no champion to support her rights, +her cold-blooded husband had deprived her. + +The old Earl Godwin did not long enjoy his restored fortune. He fell +down in a fit at the King’s table, and died upon the third day +afterwards. Harold succeeded to his power, and to a far higher place in +the attachment of the people than his father had ever held. By his +valour he subdued the King’s enemies in many bloody fights. He was +vigorous against rebels in Scotland—this was the time when Macbeth slew +Duncan, upon which event our English Shakespeare, hundreds of years +afterwards, wrote his great tragedy; and he killed the restless Welsh +King Griffith, and brought his head to England. + +What Harold was doing at sea, when he was driven on the French coast by +a tempest, is not at all certain; nor does it at all matter. That his +ship was forced by a storm on that shore, and that he was taken +prisoner, there is no doubt. In those barbarous days, all shipwrecked +strangers were taken prisoners, and obliged to pay ransom. So, a +certain Count Guy, who was the Lord of Ponthieu where Harold’s disaster +happened, seized him, instead of relieving him like a hospitable and +Christian lord as he ought to have done, and expected to make a very +good thing of it. + +But Harold sent off immediately to Duke William of Normandy, +complaining of this treatment; and the Duke no sooner heard of it than +he ordered Harold to be escorted to the ancient town of Rouen, where he +then was, and where he received him as an honoured guest. Now, some +writers tell us that Edward the Confessor, who was by this time old and +had no children, had made a will, appointing Duke William of Normandy +his successor, and had informed the Duke of his having done so. There +is no doubt that he was anxious about his successor; because he had +even invited over, from abroad, Edward the Outlaw, a son of Ironside, +who had come to England with his wife and three children, but whom the +King had strangely refused to see when he did come, and who had died in +London suddenly (princes were terribly liable to sudden death in those +days), and had been buried in St. Paul’s Cathedral. The King might +possibly have made such a will; or, having always been fond of the +Normans, he might have encouraged Norman William to aspire to the +English crown, by something that he said to him when he was staying at +the English court. But, certainly William did now aspire to it; and +knowing that Harold would be a powerful rival, he called together a +great assembly of his nobles, offered Harold his daughter Adele in +marriage, informed him that he meant on King Edward’s death to claim +the English crown as his own inheritance, and required Harold then and +there to swear to aid him. Harold, being in the Duke’s power, took this +oath upon the Missal, or Prayer-book. It is a good example of the +superstitions of the monks, that this Missal, instead of being placed +upon a table, was placed upon a tub; which, when Harold had sworn, was +uncovered, and shown to be full of dead men’s bones—bones, as the monks +pretended, of saints. This was supposed to make Harold’s oath a great +deal more impressive and binding. As if the great name of the Creator +of Heaven and earth could be made more solemn by a knuckle-bone, or a +double-tooth, or a finger-nail, of Dunstan! + +Within a week or two after Harold’s return to England, the dreary old +Confessor was found to be dying. After wandering in his mind like a +very weak old man, he died. As he had put himself entirely in the hands +of the monks when he was alive, they praised him lustily when he was +dead. They had gone so far, already, as to persuade him that he could +work miracles; and had brought people afflicted with a bad disorder of +the skin, to him, to be touched and cured. This was called ‘touching +for the King’s Evil,’ which afterwards became a royal custom. You know, +however, Who really touched the sick, and healed them; and you know His +sacred name is not among the dusty line of human kings. + + + + +CHAPTER VII +ENGLAND UNDER HAROLD THE SECOND, AND CONQUERED BY THE NORMANS + + +Harold was crowned King of England on the very day of the maudlin +Confessor’s funeral. He had good need to be quick about it. When the +news reached Norman William, hunting in his park at Rouen, he dropped +his bow, returned to his palace, called his nobles to council, and +presently sent ambassadors to Harold, calling on him to keep his oath +and resign the Crown. Harold would do no such thing. The barons of +France leagued together round Duke William for the invasion of England. +Duke William promised freely to distribute English wealth and English +lands among them. The Pope sent to Normandy a consecrated banner, and a +ring containing a hair which he warranted to have grown on the head of +Saint Peter. He blessed the enterprise; and cursed Harold; and +requested that the Normans would pay ‘Peter’s Pence’—or a tax to +himself of a penny a year on every house—a little more regularly in +future, if they could make it convenient. + +King Harold had a rebel brother in Flanders, who was a vassal of Harold +Hardrada, King of Norway. This brother, and this Norwegian King, +joining their forces against England, with Duke William’s help, won a +fight in which the English were commanded by two nobles; and then +besieged York. Harold, who was waiting for the Normans on the coast at +Hastings, with his army, marched to Stamford Bridge upon the river +Derwent to give them instant battle. + +He found them drawn up in a hollow circle, marked out by their shining +spears. Riding round this circle at a distance, to survey it, he saw a +brave figure on horseback, in a blue mantle and a bright helmet, whose +horse suddenly stumbled and threw him. + +‘Who is that man who has fallen?’ Harold asked of one of his captains. + +‘The King of Norway,’ he replied. + +‘He is a tall and stately king,’ said Harold, ‘but his end is near.’ + +He added, in a little while, ‘Go yonder to my brother, and tell him, if +he withdraw his troops, he shall be Earl of Northumberland, and rich +and powerful in England.’ + +The captain rode away and gave the message. + +‘What will he give to my friend the King of Norway?’ asked the brother. + +‘Seven feet of earth for a grave,’ replied the captain. + +‘No more?’ returned the brother, with a smile. + +‘The King of Norway being a tall man, perhaps a little more,’ replied +the captain. + +‘Ride back!’ said the brother, ‘and tell King Harold to make ready for +the fight!’ + +He did so, very soon. And such a fight King Harold led against that +force, that his brother, and the Norwegian King, and every chief of +note in all their host, except the Norwegian King’s son, Olave, to whom +he gave honourable dismissal, were left dead upon the field. The +victorious army marched to York. As King Harold sat there at the feast, +in the midst of all his company, a stir was heard at the doors; and +messengers all covered with mire from riding far and fast through +broken ground came hurrying in, to report that the Normans had landed +in England. + +The intelligence was true. They had been tossed about by contrary +winds, and some of their ships had been wrecked. A part of their own +shore, to which they had been driven back, was strewn with Norman +bodies. But they had once more made sail, led by the Duke’s own galley, +a present from his wife, upon the prow whereof the figure of a golden +boy stood pointing towards England. By day, the banner of the three +Lions of Normandy, the diverse coloured sails, the gilded vanes, the +many decorations of this gorgeous ship, had glittered in the sun and +sunny water; by night, a light had sparkled like a star at her +mast-head. And now, encamped near Hastings, with their leader lying in +the old Roman castle of Pevensey, the English retiring in all +directions, the land for miles around scorched and smoking, fired and +pillaged, was the whole Norman power, hopeful and strong on English +ground. + +Harold broke up the feast and hurried to London. Within a week, his +army was ready. He sent out spies to ascertain the Norman strength. +William took them, caused them to be led through his whole camp, and +then dismissed. ‘The Normans,’ said these spies to Harold, ‘are not +bearded on the upper lip as we English are, but are shorn. They are +priests.’ ‘My men,’ replied Harold, with a laugh, ‘will find those +priests good soldiers!’ + +‘The Saxons,’ reported Duke William’s outposts of Norman soldiers, who +were instructed to retire as King Harold’s army advanced, ‘rush on us +through their pillaged country with the fury of madmen.’ + +‘Let them come, and come soon!’ said Duke William. + +Some proposals for a reconciliation were made, but were soon abandoned. +In the middle of the month of October, in the year one thousand and +sixty-six, the Normans and the English came front to front. All night +the armies lay encamped before each other, in a part of the country +then called Senlac, now called (in remembrance of them) Battle. With +the first dawn of day, they arose. There, in the faint light, were the +English on a hill; a wood behind them; in their midst, the Royal +banner, representing a fighting warrior, woven in gold thread, adorned +with precious stones; beneath the banner, as it rustled in the wind, +stood King Harold on foot, with two of his remaining brothers by his +side; around them, still and silent as the dead, clustered the whole +English army—every soldier covered by his shield, and bearing in his +hand his dreaded English battle-axe. + +On an opposite hill, in three lines, archers, foot-soldiers, horsemen, +was the Norman force. Of a sudden, a great battle-cry, ‘God help us!’ +burst from the Norman lines. The English answered with their own +battle-cry, ‘God’s Rood! Holy Rood!’ The Normans then came sweeping +down the hill to attack the English. + +There was one tall Norman Knight who rode before the Norman army on a +prancing horse, throwing up his heavy sword and catching it, and +singing of the bravery of his countrymen. An English Knight, who rode +out from the English force to meet him, fell by this Knight’s hand. +Another English Knight rode out, and he fell too. But then a third rode +out, and killed the Norman. This was in the first beginning of the +fight. It soon raged everywhere. + +The English, keeping side by side in a great mass, cared no more for +the showers of Norman arrows than if they had been showers of Norman +rain. When the Norman horsemen rode against them, with their +battle-axes they cut men and horses down. The Normans gave way. The +English pressed forward. A cry went forth among the Norman troops that +Duke William was killed. Duke William took off his helmet, in order +that his face might be distinctly seen, and rode along the line before +his men. This gave them courage. As they turned again to face the +English, some of their Norman horse divided the pursuing body of the +English from the rest, and thus all that foremost portion of the +English army fell, fighting bravely. The main body still remaining +firm, heedless of the Norman arrows, and with their battle-axes cutting +down the crowds of horsemen when they rode up, like forests of young +trees,—Duke William pretended to retreat. The eager English followed. +The Norman army closed again, and fell upon them with great slaughter. + +‘Still,’ said Duke William, ‘there are thousands of the English, firm +as rocks around their King. Shoot upward, Norman archers, that your +arrows may fall down upon their faces!’ + +The sun rose high, and sank, and the battle still raged. Through all +the wild October day, the clash and din resounded in the air. In the +red sunset, and in the white moonlight, heaps upon heaps of dead men +lay strewn, a dreadful spectacle, all over the ground. + +King Harold, wounded with an arrow in the eye, was nearly blind. His +brothers were already killed. Twenty Norman Knights, whose battered +armour had flashed fiery and golden in the sunshine all day long, and +now looked silvery in the moonlight, dashed forward to seize the Royal +banner from the English Knights and soldiers, still faithfully +collected round their blinded King. The King received a mortal wound, +and dropped. The English broke and fled. The Normans rallied, and the +day was lost. + +O what a sight beneath the moon and stars, when lights were shining in +the tent of the victorious Duke William, which was pitched near the +spot where Harold fell—and he and his knights were carousing, +within—and soldiers with torches, going slowly to and fro, without, +sought for the corpse of Harold among piles of dead—and the Warrior, +worked in golden thread and precious stones, lay low, all torn and +soiled with blood—and the three Norman Lions kept watch over the field! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII +ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE FIRST, THE NORMAN CONQUEROR + + +Upon the ground where the brave Harold fell, William the Norman +afterwards founded an abbey, which, under the name of Battle Abbey, was +a rich and splendid place through many a troubled year, though now it +is a grey ruin overgrown with ivy. But the first work he had to do, was +to conquer the English thoroughly; and that, as you know by this time, +was hard work for any man. + +He ravaged several counties; he burned and plundered many towns; he +laid waste scores upon scores of miles of pleasant country; he +destroyed innumerable lives. At length Stigand, Archbishop of +Canterbury, with other representatives of the clergy and the people, +went to his camp, and submitted to him. Edgar, the insignificant son of +Edmund Ironside, was proclaimed King by others, but nothing came of it. +He fled to Scotland afterwards, where his sister, who was young and +beautiful, married the Scottish King. Edgar himself was not important +enough for anybody to care much about him. + +On Christmas Day, William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, under the +title of William the First; but he is best known as William the +Conqueror. It was a strange coronation. One of the bishops who +performed the ceremony asked the Normans, in French, if they would have +Duke William for their king? They answered Yes. Another of the bishops +put the same question to the Saxons, in English. They too answered Yes, +with a loud shout. The noise being heard by a guard of Norman +horse-soldiers outside, was mistaken for resistance on the part of the +English. The guard instantly set fire to the neighbouring houses, and a +tumult ensued; in the midst of which the King, being left alone in the +Abbey, with a few priests (and they all being in a terrible fright +together), was hurriedly crowned. When the crown was placed upon his +head, he swore to govern the English as well as the best of their own +monarchs. I dare say you think, as I do, that if we except the Great +Alfred, he might pretty easily have done that. + +Numbers of the English nobles had been killed in the last disastrous +battle. Their estates, and the estates of all the nobles who had fought +against him there, King William seized upon, and gave to his own Norman +knights and nobles. Many great English families of the present time +acquired their English lands in this way, and are very proud of it. + +But what is got by force must be maintained by force. These nobles were +obliged to build castles all over England, to defend their new +property; and, do what he would, the King could neither soothe nor +quell the nation as he wished. He gradually introduced the Norman +language and the Norman customs; yet, for a long time the great body of +the English remained sullen and revengeful. On his going over to +Normandy, to visit his subjects there, the oppressions of his +half-brother Odo, whom he left in charge of his English kingdom, drove +the people mad. The men of Kent even invited over, to take possession +of Dover, their old enemy Count Eustace of Boulogne, who had led the +fray when the Dover man was slain at his own fireside. The men of +Hereford, aided by the Welsh, and commanded by a chief named Edric the +Wild, drove the Normans out of their country. Some of those who had +been dispossessed of their lands, banded together in the North of +England; some, in Scotland; some, in the thick woods and marshes; and +whensoever they could fall upon the Normans, or upon the English who +had submitted to the Normans, they fought, despoiled, and murdered, +like the desperate outlaws that they were. Conspiracies were set on +foot for a general massacre of the Normans, like the old massacre of +the Danes. In short, the English were in a murderous mood all through +the kingdom. + +King William, fearing he might lose his conquest, came back, and tried +to pacify the London people by soft words. He then set forth to repress +the country people by stern deeds. Among the towns which he besieged, +and where he killed and maimed the inhabitants without any distinction, +sparing none, young or old, armed or unarmed, were Oxford, Warwick, +Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, York. In all these places, and +in many others, fire and sword worked their utmost horrors, and made +the land dreadful to behold. The streams and rivers were discoloured +with blood; the sky was blackened with smoke; the fields were wastes of +ashes; the waysides were heaped up with dead. Such are the fatal +results of conquest and ambition! Although William was a harsh and +angry man, I do not suppose that he deliberately meant to work this +shocking ruin, when he invaded England. But what he had got by the +strong hand, he could only keep by the strong hand, and in so doing he +made England a great grave. + +Two sons of Harold, by name Edmund and Godwin, came over from Ireland, +with some ships, against the Normans, but were defeated. This was +scarcely done, when the outlaws in the woods so harassed York, that the +Governor sent to the King for help. The King despatched a general and a +large force to occupy the town of Durham. The Bishop of that place met +the general outside the town, and warned him not to enter, as he would +be in danger there. The general cared nothing for the warning, and went +in with all his men. That night, on every hill within sight of Durham, +signal fires were seen to blaze. When the morning dawned, the English, +who had assembled in great strength, forced the gates, rushed into the +town, and slew the Normans every one. The English afterwards besought +the Danes to come and help them. The Danes came, with two hundred and +forty ships. The outlawed nobles joined them; they captured York, and +drove the Normans out of that city. Then, William bribed the Danes to +go away; and took such vengeance on the English, that all the former +fire and sword, smoke and ashes, death and ruin, were nothing compared +with it. In melancholy songs, and doleful stories, it was still sung +and told by cottage fires on winter evenings, a hundred years +afterwards, how, in those dreadful days of the Normans, there was not, +from the River Humber to the River Tyne, one inhabited village left, +nor one cultivated field—how there was nothing but a dismal ruin, where +the human creatures and the beasts lay dead together. + +The outlaws had, at this time, what they called a Camp of Refuge, in +the midst of the fens of Cambridgeshire. Protected by those marshy +grounds which were difficult of approach, they lay among the reeds and +rushes, and were hidden by the mists that rose up from the watery +earth. Now, there also was, at that time, over the sea in Flanders, an +Englishman named Hereward, whose father had died in his absence, and +whose property had been given to a Norman. When he heard of this wrong +that had been done him (from such of the exiled English as chanced to +wander into that country), he longed for revenge; and joining the +outlaws in their camp of refuge, became their commander. He was so good +a soldier, that the Normans supposed him to be aided by enchantment. +William, even after he had made a road three miles in length across the +Cambridgeshire marshes, on purpose to attack this supposed enchanter, +thought it necessary to engage an old lady, who pretended to be a +sorceress, to come and do a little enchantment in the royal cause. For +this purpose she was pushed on before the troops in a wooden tower; but +Hereward very soon disposed of this unfortunate sorceress, by burning +her, tower and all. The monks of the convent of Ely near at hand, +however, who were fond of good living, and who found it very +uncomfortable to have the country blockaded and their supplies of meat +and drink cut off, showed the King a secret way of surprising the camp. +So Hereward was soon defeated. Whether he afterwards died quietly, or +whether he was killed after killing sixteen of the men who attacked him +(as some old rhymes relate that he did), I cannot say. His defeat put +an end to the Camp of Refuge; and, very soon afterwards, the King, +victorious both in Scotland and in England, quelled the last rebellious +English noble. He then surrounded himself with Norman lords, enriched +by the property of English nobles; had a great survey made of all the +land in England, which was entered as the property of its new owners, +on a roll called Doomsday Book; obliged the people to put out their +fires and candles at a certain hour every night, on the ringing of a +bell which was called The Curfew; introduced the Norman dresses and +manners; made the Normans masters everywhere, and the English, +servants; turned out the English bishops, and put Normans in their +places; and showed himself to be the Conqueror indeed. + +But, even with his own Normans, he had a restless life. They were +always hungering and thirsting for the riches of the English; and the +more he gave, the more they wanted. His priests were as greedy as his +soldiers. We know of only one Norman who plainly told his master, the +King, that he had come with him to England to do his duty as a faithful +servant, and that property taken by force from other men had no charms +for him. His name was Guilbert. We should not forget his name, for it +is good to remember and to honour honest men. + +Besides all these troubles, William the Conqueror was troubled by +quarrels among his sons. He had three living. Robert, called Curthose, +because of his short legs; William, called Rufus or the Red, from the +colour of his hair; and Henry, fond of learning, and called, in the +Norman language, Beauclerc, or Fine-Scholar. When Robert grew up, he +asked of his father the government of Normandy, which he had nominally +possessed, as a child, under his mother, Matilda. The King refusing to +grant it, Robert became jealous and discontented; and happening one +day, while in this temper, to be ridiculed by his brothers, who threw +water on him from a balcony as he was walking before the door, he drew +his sword, rushed up-stairs, and was only prevented by the King himself +from putting them to death. That same night, he hotly departed with +some followers from his father’s court, and endeavoured to take the +Castle of Rouen by surprise. Failing in this, he shut himself up in +another Castle in Normandy, which the King besieged, and where Robert +one day unhorsed and nearly killed him without knowing who he was. His +submission when he discovered his father, and the intercession of the +queen and others, reconciled them; but not soundly; for Robert soon +strayed abroad, and went from court to court with his complaints. He +was a gay, careless, thoughtless fellow, spending all he got on +musicians and dancers; but his mother loved him, and often, against the +King’s command, supplied him with money through a messenger named +Samson. At length the incensed King swore he would tear out Samson’s +eyes; and Samson, thinking that his only hope of safety was in becoming +a monk, became one, went on such errands no more, and kept his eyes in +his head. + +All this time, from the turbulent day of his strange coronation, the +Conqueror had been struggling, you see, at any cost of cruelty and +bloodshed, to maintain what he had seized. All his reign, he struggled +still, with the same object ever before him. He was a stern, bold man, +and he succeeded in it. + +He loved money, and was particular in his eating, but he had only +leisure to indulge one other passion, and that was his love of hunting. +He carried it to such a height that he ordered whole villages and towns +to be swept away to make forests for the deer. Not satisfied with +sixty-eight Royal Forests, he laid waste an immense district, to form +another in Hampshire, called the New Forest. The many thousands of +miserable peasants who saw their little houses pulled down, and +themselves and children turned into the open country without a shelter, +detested him for his merciless addition to their many sufferings; and +when, in the twenty-first year of his reign (which proved to be the +last), he went over to Rouen, England was as full of hatred against +him, as if every leaf on every tree in all his Royal Forests had been a +curse upon his head. In the New Forest, his son Richard (for he had +four sons) had been gored to death by a Stag; and the people said that +this so cruelly-made Forest would yet be fatal to others of the +Conqueror’s race. + +He was engaged in a dispute with the King of France about some +territory. While he stayed at Rouen, negotiating with that King, he +kept his bed and took medicines: being advised by his physicians to do +so, on account of having grown to an unwieldy size. Word being brought +to him that the King of France made light of this, and joked about it, +he swore in a great rage that he should rue his jests. He assembled his +army, marched into the disputed territory, burnt—his old way!—the +vines, the crops, and fruit, and set the town of Mantes on fire. But, +in an evil hour; for, as he rode over the hot ruins, his horse, setting +his hoofs upon some burning embers, started, threw him forward against +the pommel of the saddle, and gave him a mortal hurt. For six weeks he +lay dying in a monastery near Rouen, and then made his will, giving +England to William, Normandy to Robert, and five thousand pounds to +Henry. And now, his violent deeds lay heavy on his mind. He ordered +money to be given to many English churches and monasteries, and—which +was much better repentance—released his prisoners of state, some of +whom had been confined in his dungeons twenty years. + +It was a September morning, and the sun was rising, when the King was +awakened from slumber by the sound of a church bell. ‘What bell is +that?’ he faintly asked. They told him it was the bell of the chapel of +Saint Mary. ‘I commend my soul,’ said he, ‘to Mary!’ and died. + +Think of his name, The Conqueror, and then consider how he lay in +death! The moment he was dead, his physicians, priests, and nobles, not +knowing what contest for the throne might now take place, or what might +happen in it, hastened away, each man for himself and his own property; +the mercenary servants of the court began to rob and plunder; the body +of the King, in the indecent strife, was rolled from the bed, and lay +alone, for hours, upon the ground. O Conqueror, of whom so many great +names are proud now, of whom so many great names thought nothing then, +it were better to have conquered one true heart, than England! + +By-and-by, the priests came creeping in with prayers and candles; and a +good knight, named Herluin, undertook (which no one else would do) to +convey the body to Caen, in Normandy, in order that it might be buried +in St. Stephen’s church there, which the Conqueror had founded. But +fire, of which he had made such bad use in his life, seemed to follow +him of itself in death. A great conflagration broke out in the town +when the body was placed in the church; and those present running out +to extinguish the flames, it was once again left alone. + +It was not even buried in peace. It was about to be let down, in its +Royal robes, into a tomb near the high altar, in presence of a great +concourse of people, when a loud voice in the crowd cried out, ‘This +ground is mine! Upon it, stood my father’s house. This King despoiled +me of both ground and house to build this church. In the great name of +God, I here forbid his body to be covered with the earth that is my +right!’ The priests and bishops present, knowing the speaker’s right, +and knowing that the King had often denied him justice, paid him down +sixty shillings for the grave. Even then, the corpse was not at rest. +The tomb was too small, and they tried to force it in. It broke, a +dreadful smell arose, the people hurried out into the air, and, for the +third time, it was left alone. + +Where were the Conqueror’s three sons, that they were not at their +father’s burial? Robert was lounging among minstrels, dancers, and +gamesters, in France or Germany. Henry was carrying his five thousand +pounds safely away in a convenient chest he had got made. William the +Red was hurrying to England, to lay hands upon the Royal treasure and +the crown. + + + + +CHAPTER IX +ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE SECOND, CALLED RUFUS + + +William the Red, in breathless haste, secured the three great forts of +Dover, Pevensey, and Hastings, and made with hot speed for Winchester, +where the Royal treasure was kept. The treasurer delivering him the +keys, he found that it amounted to sixty thousand pounds in silver, +besides gold and jewels. Possessed of this wealth, he soon persuaded +the Archbishop of Canterbury to crown him, and became William the +Second, King of England. + +Rufus was no sooner on the throne, than he ordered into prison again +the unhappy state captives whom his father had set free, and directed a +goldsmith to ornament his father’s tomb profusely with gold and silver. +It would have been more dutiful in him to have attended the sick +Conqueror when he was dying; but England itself, like this Red King, +who once governed it, has sometimes made expensive tombs for dead men +whom it treated shabbily when they were alive. + +The King’s brother, Robert of Normandy, seeming quite content to be +only Duke of that country; and the King’s other brother, Fine-Scholar, +being quiet enough with his five thousand pounds in a chest; the King +flattered himself, we may suppose, with the hope of an easy reign. But +easy reigns were difficult to have in those days. The turbulent Bishop +Odo (who had blessed the Norman army at the Battle of Hastings, and +who, I dare say, took all the credit of the victory to himself) soon +began, in concert with some powerful Norman nobles, to trouble the Red +King. + +The truth seems to be that this bishop and his friends, who had lands +in England and lands in Normandy, wished to hold both under one +Sovereign; and greatly preferred a thoughtless good-natured person, +such as Robert was, to Rufus; who, though far from being an amiable man +in any respect, was keen, and not to be imposed upon. They declared in +Robert’s favour, and retired to their castles (those castles were very +troublesome to kings) in a sullen humour. The Red King, seeing the +Normans thus falling from him, revenged himself upon them by appealing +to the English; to whom he made a variety of promises, which he never +meant to perform—in particular, promises to soften the cruelty of the +Forest Laws; and who, in return, so aided him with their valour, that +Odo was besieged in the Castle of Rochester, and forced to abandon it, +and to depart from England for ever: whereupon the other rebellious +Norman nobles were soon reduced and scattered. + +Then, the Red King went over to Normandy, where the people suffered +greatly under the loose rule of Duke Robert. The King’s object was to +seize upon the Duke’s dominions. This, the Duke, of course, prepared to +resist; and miserable war between the two brothers seemed inevitable, +when the powerful nobles on both sides, who had seen so much of war, +interfered to prevent it. A treaty was made. Each of the two brothers +agreed to give up something of his claims, and that the longer-liver of +the two should inherit all the dominions of the other. When they had +come to this loving understanding, they embraced and joined their +forces against Fine-Scholar; who had bought some territory of Robert +with a part of his five thousand pounds, and was considered a dangerous +individual in consequence. + +St. Michael’s Mount, in Normandy (there is another St. Michael’s Mount, +in Cornwall, wonderfully like it), was then, as it is now, a strong +place perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide +is in, the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland. In this place, +Fine-Scholar shut himself up with his soldiers, and here he was closely +besieged by his two brothers. At one time, when he was reduced to great +distress for want of water, the generous Robert not only permitted his +men to get water, but sent Fine-Scholar wine from his own table; and, +on being remonstrated with by the Red King, said ‘What! shall we let +our own brother die of thirst? Where shall we get another, when he is +gone?’ At another time, the Red King riding alone on the shore of the +bay, looking up at the Castle, was taken by two of Fine-Scholar’s men, +one of whom was about to kill him, when he cried out, ‘Hold, knave! I +am the King of England!’ The story says that the soldier raised him +from the ground respectfully and humbly, and that the King took him +into his service. The story may or may not be true; but at any rate it +is true that Fine-Scholar could not hold out against his united +brothers, and that he abandoned Mount St. Michael, and wandered +about—as poor and forlorn as other scholars have been sometimes known +to be. + +The Scotch became unquiet in the Red King’s time, and were twice +defeated—the second time, with the loss of their King, Malcolm, and his +son. The Welsh became unquiet too. Against them, Rufus was less +successful; for they fought among their native mountains, and did great +execution on the King’s troops. Robert of Normandy became unquiet too; +and, complaining that his brother the King did not faithfully perform +his part of their agreement, took up arms, and obtained assistance from +the King of France, whom Rufus, in the end, bought off with vast sums +of money. England became unquiet too. Lord Mowbray, the powerful Earl +of Northumberland, headed a great conspiracy to depose the King, and to +place upon the throne, Stephen, the Conqueror’s near relative. The plot +was discovered; all the chief conspirators were seized; some were +fined, some were put in prison, some were put to death. The Earl of +Northumberland himself was shut up in a dungeon beneath Windsor Castle, +where he died, an old man, thirty long years afterwards. The Priests in +England were more unquiet than any other class or power; for the Red +King treated them with such small ceremony that he refused to appoint +new bishops or archbishops when the old ones died, but kept all the +wealth belonging to those offices in his own hands. In return for this, +the Priests wrote his life when he was dead, and abused him well. I am +inclined to think, myself, that there was little to choose between the +Priests and the Red King; that both sides were greedy and designing; +and that they were fairly matched. + +The Red King was false of heart, selfish, covetous, and mean. He had a +worthy minister in his favourite, Ralph, nicknamed—for almost every +famous person had a nickname in those rough days—Flambard, or the +Firebrand. Once, the King being ill, became penitent, and made Anselm, +a foreign priest and a good man, Archbishop of Canterbury. But he no +sooner got well again than he repented of his repentance, and persisted +in wrongfully keeping to himself some of the wealth belonging to the +archbishopric. This led to violent disputes, which were aggravated by +there being in Rome at that time two rival Popes; each of whom declared +he was the only real original infallible Pope, who couldn’t make a +mistake. At last, Anselm, knowing the Red King’s character, and not +feeling himself safe in England, asked leave to return abroad. The Red +King gladly gave it; for he knew that as soon as Anselm was gone, he +could begin to store up all the Canterbury money again, for his own +use. + +By such means, and by taxing and oppressing the English people in every +possible way, the Red King became very rich. When he wanted money for +any purpose, he raised it by some means or other, and cared nothing for +the injustice he did, or the misery he caused. Having the opportunity +of buying from Robert the whole duchy of Normandy for five years, he +taxed the English people more than ever, and made the very convents +sell their plate and valuables to supply him with the means to make the +purchase. But he was as quick and eager in putting down revolt as he +was in raising money; for, a part of the Norman people objecting—very +naturally, I think—to being sold in this way, he headed an army against +them with all the speed and energy of his father. He was so impatient, +that he embarked for Normandy in a great gale of wind. And when the +sailors told him it was dangerous to go to sea in such angry weather, +he replied, ‘Hoist sail and away! Did you ever hear of a king who was +drowned?’ + +You will wonder how it was that even the careless Robert came to sell +his dominions. It happened thus. It had long been the custom for many +English people to make journeys to Jerusalem, which were called +pilgrimages, in order that they might pray beside the tomb of Our +Saviour there. Jerusalem belonging to the Turks, and the Turks hating +Christianity, these Christian travellers were often insulted and ill +used. The Pilgrims bore it patiently for some time, but at length a +remarkable man, of great earnestness and eloquence, called Peter the +Hermit, began to preach in various places against the Turks, and to +declare that it was the duty of good Christians to drive away those +unbelievers from the tomb of Our Saviour, and to take possession of it, +and protect it. An excitement such as the world had never known before +was created. Thousands and thousands of men of all ranks and conditions +departed for Jerusalem to make war against the Turks. The war is called +in history the first Crusade, and every Crusader wore a cross marked on +his right shoulder. + +All the Crusaders were not zealous Christians. Among them were vast +numbers of the restless, idle, profligate, and adventurous spirit of +the time. Some became Crusaders for the love of change; some, in the +hope of plunder; some, because they had nothing to do at home; some, +because they did what the priests told them; some, because they liked +to see foreign countries; some, because they were fond of knocking men +about, and would as soon knock a Turk about as a Christian. Robert of +Normandy may have been influenced by all these motives; and by a kind +desire, besides, to save the Christian Pilgrims from bad treatment in +future. He wanted to raise a number of armed men, and to go to the +Crusade. He could not do so without money. He had no money; and he sold +his dominions to his brother, the Red King, for five years. With the +large sum he thus obtained, he fitted out his Crusaders gallantly, and +went away to Jerusalem in martial state. The Red King, who made money +out of everything, stayed at home, busily squeezing more money out of +Normans and English. + +After three years of great hardship and suffering—from shipwreck at +sea; from travel in strange lands; from hunger, thirst, and fever, upon +the burning sands of the desert; and from the fury of the Turks—the +valiant Crusaders got possession of Our Saviour’s tomb. The Turks were +still resisting and fighting bravely, but this success increased the +general desire in Europe to join the Crusade. Another great French Duke +was proposing to sell his dominions for a term to the rich Red King, +when the Red King’s reign came to a sudden and violent end. + +You have not forgotten the New Forest which the Conqueror made, and +which the miserable people whose homes he had laid waste, so hated. The +cruelty of the Forest Laws, and the torture and death they brought upon +the peasantry, increased this hatred. The poor persecuted country +people believed that the New Forest was enchanted. They said that in +thunder-storms, and on dark nights, demons appeared, moving beneath the +branches of the gloomy trees. They said that a terrible spectre had +foretold to Norman hunters that the Red King should be punished there. +And now, in the pleasant season of May, when the Red King had reigned +almost thirteen years; and a second Prince of the Conqueror’s +blood—another Richard, the son of Duke Robert—was killed by an arrow in +this dreaded Forest; the people said that the second time was not the +last, and that there was another death to come. + +It was a lonely forest, accursed in the people’s hearts for the wicked +deeds that had been done to make it; and no man save the King and his +Courtiers and Huntsmen, liked to stray there. But, in reality, it was +like any other forest. In the spring, the green leaves broke out of the +buds; in the summer, flourished heartily, and made deep shades; in the +winter, shrivelled and blew down, and lay in brown heaps on the moss. +Some trees were stately, and grew high and strong; some had fallen of +themselves; some were felled by the forester’s axe; some were hollow, +and the rabbits burrowed at their roots; some few were struck by +lightning, and stood white and bare. There were hill-sides covered with +rich fern, on which the morning dew so beautifully sparkled; there were +brooks, where the deer went down to drink, or over which the whole herd +bounded, flying from the arrows of the huntsmen; there were sunny +glades, and solemn places where but little light came through the +rustling leaves. The songs of the birds in the New Forest were +pleasanter to hear than the shouts of fighting men outside; and even +when the Red King and his Court came hunting through its solitudes, +cursing loud and riding hard, with a jingling of stirrups and bridles +and knives and daggers, they did much less harm there than among the +English or Normans, and the stags died (as they lived) far easier than +the people. + +Upon a day in August, the Red King, now reconciled to his brother, +Fine-Scholar, came with a great train to hunt in the New Forest. +Fine-Scholar was of the party. They were a merry party, and had lain +all night at Malwood-Keep, a hunting-lodge in the forest, where they +had made good cheer, both at supper and breakfast, and had drunk a deal +of wine. The party dispersed in various directions, as the custom of +hunters then was. The King took with him only Sir Walter Tyrrel, who +was a famous sportsman, and to whom he had given, before they mounted +horse that morning, two fine arrows. + +The last time the King was ever seen alive, he was riding with Sir +Walter Tyrrel, and their dogs were hunting together. + +It was almost night, when a poor charcoal-burner, passing through the +forest with his cart, came upon the solitary body of a dead man, shot +with an arrow in the breast, and still bleeding. He got it into his +cart. It was the body of the King. Shaken and tumbled, with its red +beard all whitened with lime and clotted with blood, it was driven in +the cart by the charcoal-burner next day to Winchester Cathedral, where +it was received and buried. + +Sir Walter Tyrrel, who escaped to Normandy, and claimed the protection +of the King of France, swore in France that the Red King was suddenly +shot dead by an arrow from an unseen hand, while they were hunting +together; that he was fearful of being suspected as the King’s +murderer; and that he instantly set spurs to his horse, and fled to the +sea-shore. Others declared that the King and Sir Walter Tyrrel were +hunting in company, a little before sunset, standing in bushes opposite +one another, when a stag came between them. That the King drew his bow +and took aim, but the string broke. That the King then cried, ‘Shoot, +Walter, in the Devil’s name!’ That Sir Walter shot. That the arrow +glanced against a tree, was turned aside from the stag, and struck the +King from his horse, dead. + +By whose hand the Red King really fell, and whether that hand +despatched the arrow to his breast by accident or by design, is only +known to God. Some think his brother may have caused him to be killed; +but the Red King had made so many enemies, both among priests and +people, that suspicion may reasonably rest upon a less unnatural +murderer. Men know no more than that he was found dead in the New +Forest, which the suffering people had regarded as a doomed ground for +his race. + + + + +CHAPTER X +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIRST, CALLED FINE-SCHOLAR + + +Fine-scholar, on hearing of the Red King’s death, hurried to Winchester +with as much speed as Rufus himself had made, to seize the Royal +treasure. But the keeper of the treasure who had been one of the +hunting-party in the Forest, made haste to Winchester too, and, +arriving there at about the same time, refused to yield it up. Upon +this, Fine-Scholar drew his sword, and threatened to kill the +treasurer; who might have paid for his fidelity with his life, but that +he knew longer resistance to be useless when he found the Prince +supported by a company of powerful barons, who declared they were +determined to make him King. The treasurer, therefore, gave up the +money and jewels of the Crown: and on the third day after the death of +the Red King, being a Sunday, Fine-Scholar stood before the high altar +in Westminster Abbey, and made a solemn declaration that he would +resign the Church property which his brother had seized; that he would +do no wrong to the nobles; and that he would restore to the people the +laws of Edward the Confessor, with all the improvements of William the +Conqueror. So began the reign of King Henry the First. + +The people were attached to their new King, both because he had known +distresses, and because he was an Englishman by birth and not a Norman. +To strengthen this last hold upon them, the King wished to marry an +English lady; and could think of no other wife than Maud the Good, the +daughter of the King of Scotland. Although this good Princess did not +love the King, she was so affected by the representations the nobles +made to her of the great charity it would be in her to unite the Norman +and Saxon races, and prevent hatred and bloodshed between them for the +future, that she consented to become his wife. After some disputing +among the priests, who said that as she had been in a convent in her +youth, and had worn the veil of a nun, she could not lawfully be +married—against which the Princess stated that her aunt, with whom she +had lived in her youth, had indeed sometimes thrown a piece of black +stuff over her, but for no other reason than because the nun’s veil was +the only dress the conquering Normans respected in girl or woman, and +not because she had taken the vows of a nun, which she never had—she +was declared free to marry, and was made King Henry’s Queen. A good +Queen she was; beautiful, kind-hearted, and worthy of a better husband +than the King. + +For he was a cunning and unscrupulous man, though firm and clever. He +cared very little for his word, and took any means to gain his ends. +All this is shown in his treatment of his brother Robert—Robert, who +had suffered him to be refreshed with water, and who had sent him the +wine from his own table, when he was shut up, with the crows flying +below him, parched with thirst, in the castle on the top of St. +Michael’s Mount, where his Red brother would have let him die. + +Before the King began to deal with Robert, he removed and disgraced all +the favourites of the late King; who were for the most part base +characters, much detested by the people. Flambard, or Firebrand, whom +the late King had made Bishop of Durham, of all things in the world, +Henry imprisoned in the Tower; but Firebrand was a great joker and a +jolly companion, and made himself so popular with his guards that they +pretended to know nothing about a long rope that was sent into his +prison at the bottom of a deep flagon of wine. The guards took the +wine, and Firebrand took the rope; with which, when they were fast +asleep, he let himself down from a window in the night, and so got +cleverly aboard ship and away to Normandy. + +Now Robert, when his brother Fine-Scholar came to the throne, was still +absent in the Holy Land. Henry pretended that Robert had been made +Sovereign of that country; and he had been away so long, that the +ignorant people believed it. But, behold, when Henry had been some time +King of England, Robert came home to Normandy; having leisurely +returned from Jerusalem through Italy, in which beautiful country he +had enjoyed himself very much, and had married a lady as beautiful as +itself! In Normandy, he found Firebrand waiting to urge him to assert +his claim to the English crown, and declare war against King Henry. +This, after great loss of time in feasting and dancing with his +beautiful Italian wife among his Norman friends, he at last did. + +The English in general were on King Henry’s side, though many of the +Normans were on Robert’s. But the English sailors deserted the King, +and took a great part of the English fleet over to Normandy; so that +Robert came to invade this country in no foreign vessels, but in +English ships. The virtuous Anselm, however, whom Henry had invited +back from abroad, and made Archbishop of Canterbury, was steadfast in +the King’s cause; and it was so well supported that the two armies, +instead of fighting, made a peace. Poor Robert, who trusted anybody and +everybody, readily trusted his brother, the King; and agreed to go home +and receive a pension from England, on condition that all his followers +were fully pardoned. This the King very faithfully promised, but Robert +was no sooner gone than he began to punish them. + +Among them was the Earl of Shrewsbury, who, on being summoned by the +King to answer to five-and-forty accusations, rode away to one of his +strong castles, shut himself up therein, called around him his tenants +and vassals, and fought for his liberty, but was defeated and banished. +Robert, with all his faults, was so true to his word, that when he +first heard of this nobleman having risen against his brother, he laid +waste the Earl of Shrewsbury’s estates in Normandy, to show the King +that he would favour no breach of their treaty. Finding, on better +information, afterwards, that the Earl’s only crime was having been his +friend, he came over to England, in his old thoughtless, warm-hearted +way, to intercede with the King, and remind him of the solemn promise +to pardon all his followers. + +This confidence might have put the false King to the blush, but it did +not. Pretending to be very friendly, he so surrounded his brother with +spies and traps, that Robert, who was quite in his power, had nothing +for it but to renounce his pension and escape while he could. Getting +home to Normandy, and understanding the King better now, he naturally +allied himself with his old friend the Earl of Shrewsbury, who had +still thirty castles in that country. This was exactly what Henry +wanted. He immediately declared that Robert had broken the treaty, and +next year invaded Normandy. + +He pretended that he came to deliver the Normans, at their own request, +from his brother’s misrule. There is reason to fear that his misrule +was bad enough; for his beautiful wife had died, leaving him with an +infant son, and his court was again so careless, dissipated, and +ill-regulated, that it was said he sometimes lay in bed of a day for +want of clothes to put on—his attendants having stolen all his dresses. +But he headed his army like a brave prince and a gallant soldier, +though he had the misfortune to be taken prisoner by King Henry, with +four hundred of his Knights. Among them was poor harmless Edgar +Atheling, who loved Robert well. Edgar was not important enough to be +severe with. The King afterwards gave him a small pension, which he +lived upon and died upon, in peace, among the quiet woods and fields of +England. + +And Robert—poor, kind, generous, wasteful, heedless Robert, with so +many faults, and yet with virtues that might have made a better and a +happier man—what was the end of him? If the King had had the +magnanimity to say with a kind air, ‘Brother, tell me, before these +noblemen, that from this time you will be my faithful follower and +friend, and never raise your hand against me or my forces more!’ he +might have trusted Robert to the death. But the King was not a +magnanimous man. He sentenced his brother to be confined for life in +one of the Royal Castles. In the beginning of his imprisonment, he was +allowed to ride out, guarded; but he one day broke away from his guard +and galloped off. He had the evil fortune to ride into a swamp, where +his horse stuck fast and he was taken. When the King heard of it he +ordered him to be blinded, which was done by putting a red-hot metal +basin on his eyes. + +And so, in darkness and in prison, many years, he thought of all his +past life, of the time he had wasted, of the treasure he had +squandered, of the opportunities he had lost, of the youth he had +thrown away, of the talents he had neglected. Sometimes, on fine autumn +mornings, he would sit and think of the old hunting parties in the free +Forest, where he had been the foremost and the gayest. Sometimes, in +the still nights, he would wake, and mourn for the many nights that had +stolen past him at the gaming-table; sometimes, would seem to hear, +upon the melancholy wind, the old songs of the minstrels; sometimes, +would dream, in his blindness, of the light and glitter of the Norman +Court. Many and many a time, he groped back, in his fancy, to +Jerusalem, where he had fought so well; or, at the head of his brave +companions, bowed his feathered helmet to the shouts of welcome +greeting him in Italy, and seemed again to walk among the sunny +vineyards, or on the shore of the blue sea, with his lovely wife. And +then, thinking of her grave, and of his fatherless boy, he would +stretch out his solitary arms and weep. + +At length, one day, there lay in prison, dead, with cruel and +disfiguring scars upon his eyelids, bandaged from his jailer’s sight, +but on which the eternal Heavens looked down, a worn old man of eighty. +He had once been Robert of Normandy. Pity him! + +[Illustration: Duke Robert of Normandy] + +At the time when Robert of Normandy was taken prisoner by his brother, +Robert’s little son was only five years old. This child was taken, too, +and carried before the King, sobbing and crying; for, young as he was, +he knew he had good reason to be afraid of his Royal uncle. The King +was not much accustomed to pity those who were in his power, but his +cold heart seemed for the moment to soften towards the boy. He was +observed to make a great effort, as if to prevent himself from being +cruel, and ordered the child to be taken away; whereupon a certain +Baron, who had married a daughter of Duke Robert’s (by name, Helie of +Saint Saen), took charge of him, tenderly. The King’s gentleness did +not last long. Before two years were over, he sent messengers to this +lord’s Castle to seize the child and bring him away. The Baron was not +there at the time, but his servants were faithful, and carried the boy +off in his sleep and hid him. When the Baron came home, and was told +what the King had done, he took the child abroad, and, leading him by +the hand, went from King to King and from Court to Court, relating how +the child had a claim to the throne of England, and how his uncle the +King, knowing that he had that claim, would have murdered him, perhaps, +but for his escape. + +The youth and innocence of the pretty little William Fitz-Robert (for +that was his name) made him many friends at that time. When he became a +young man, the King of France, uniting with the French Counts of Anjou +and Flanders, supported his cause against the King of England, and took +many of the King’s towns and castles in Normandy. But, King Henry, +artful and cunning always, bribed some of William’s friends with money, +some with promises, some with power. He bought off the Count of Anjou, +by promising to marry his eldest son, also named William, to the +Count’s daughter; and indeed the whole trust of this King’s life was in +such bargains, and he believed (as many another King has done since, +and as one King did in France a very little time ago) that every man’s +truth and honour can be bought at some price. For all this, he was so +afraid of William Fitz-Robert and his friends, that, for a long time, +he believed his life to be in danger; and never lay down to sleep, even +in his palace surrounded by his guards, without having a sword and +buckler at his bedside. + +To strengthen his power, the King with great ceremony betrothed his +eldest daughter Matilda, then a child only eight years old, to be the +wife of Henry the Fifth, the Emperor of Germany. To raise her +marriage-portion, he taxed the English people in a most oppressive +manner; then treated them to a great procession, to restore their good +humour; and sent Matilda away, in fine state, with the German +ambassadors, to be educated in the country of her future husband. + +And now his Queen, Maud the Good, unhappily died. It was a sad thought +for that gentle lady, that the only hope with which she had married a +man whom she had never loved—the hope of reconciling the Norman and +English races—had failed. At the very time of her death, Normandy and +all France was in arms against England; for, so soon as his last danger +was over, King Henry had been false to all the French powers he had +promised, bribed, and bought, and they had naturally united against +him. After some fighting, however, in which few suffered but the +unhappy common people (who always suffered, whatsoever was the matter), +he began to promise, bribe, and buy again; and by those means, and by +the help of the Pope, who exerted himself to save more bloodshed, and +by solemnly declaring, over and over again, that he really was in +earnest this time, and would keep his word, the King made peace. + +One of the first consequences of this peace was, that the King went +over to Normandy with his son Prince William and a great retinue, to +have the Prince acknowledged as his successor by the Norman Nobles, and +to contract the promised marriage (this was one of the many promises +the King had broken) between him and the daughter of the Count of +Anjou. Both these things were triumphantly done, with great show and +rejoicing; and on the twenty-fifth of November, in the year one +thousand one hundred and twenty, the whole retinue prepared to embark +at the Port of Barfleur, for the voyage home. + +On that day, and at that place, there came to the King, Fitz-Stephen, a +sea-captain, and said: + +‘My liege, my father served your father all his life, upon the sea. He +steered the ship with the golden boy upon the prow, in which your +father sailed to conquer England. I beseech you to grant me the same +office. I have a fair vessel in the harbour here, called The White +Ship, manned by fifty sailors of renown. I pray you, Sire, to let your +servant have the honour of steering you in The White Ship to England!’ + +‘I am sorry, friend,’ replied the King, ‘that my vessel is already +chosen, and that I cannot (therefore) sail with the son of the man who +served my father. But the Prince and all his company shall go along +with you, in the fair White Ship, manned by the fifty sailors of +renown.’ + +An hour or two afterwards, the King set sail in the vessel he had +chosen, accompanied by other vessels, and, sailing all night with a +fair and gentle wind, arrived upon the coast of England in the morning. +While it was yet night, the people in some of those ships heard a faint +wild cry come over the sea, and wondered what it was. + +Now, the Prince was a dissolute, debauched young man of eighteen, who +bore no love to the English, and had declared that when he came to the +throne he would yoke them to the plough like oxen. He went aboard The +White Ship, with one hundred and forty youthful Nobles like himself, +among whom were eighteen noble ladies of the highest rank. All this gay +company, with their servants and the fifty sailors, made three hundred +souls aboard the fair White Ship. + +‘Give three casks of wine, Fitz-Stephen,’ said the Prince, ‘to the +fifty sailors of renown! My father the King has sailed out of the +harbour. What time is there to make merry here, and yet reach England +with the rest?’ + +‘Prince!’ said Fitz-Stephen, ‘before morning, my fifty and The White +Ship shall overtake the swiftest vessel in attendance on your father +the King, if we sail at midnight!’ + +Then the Prince commanded to make merry; and the sailors drank out the +three casks of wine; and the Prince and all the noble company danced in +the moonlight on the deck of The White Ship. + +When, at last, she shot out of the harbour of Barfleur, there was not a +sober seaman on board. But the sails were all set, and the oars all +going merrily. Fitz-Stephen had the helm. The gay young nobles and the +beautiful ladies, wrapped in mantles of various bright colours to +protect them from the cold, talked, laughed, and sang. The Prince +encouraged the fifty sailors to row harder yet, for the honour of The +White Ship. + +Crash! A terrific cry broke from three hundred hearts. It was the cry +the people in the distant vessels of the King heard faintly on the +water. The White Ship had struck upon a rock—was filling—going down! + +Fitz-Stephen hurried the Prince into a boat, with some few Nobles. +‘Push off,’ he whispered; ‘and row to land. It is not far, and the sea +is smooth. The rest of us must die.’ + +But, as they rowed away, fast, from the sinking ship, the Prince heard +the voice of his sister Marie, the Countess of Perche, calling for +help. He never in his life had been so good as he was then. He cried in +an agony, ‘Row back at any risk! I cannot bear to leave her!’ + +They rowed back. As the Prince held out his arms to catch his sister, +such numbers leaped in, that the boat was overset. And in the same +instant The White Ship went down. + +Only two men floated. They both clung to the main yard of the ship, +which had broken from the mast, and now supported them. One asked the +other who he was? He said, ‘I am a nobleman, Godfrey by name, the son +of Gilbert de l’Aigle. And you?’ said he. ‘I am Berold, a poor butcher +of Rouen,’ was the answer. Then, they said together, ‘Lord be merciful +to us both!’ and tried to encourage one another, as they drifted in the +cold benumbing sea on that unfortunate November night. + +By-and-by, another man came swimming towards them, whom they knew, when +he pushed aside his long wet hair, to be Fitz-Stephen. ‘Where is the +Prince?’ said he. ‘Gone! Gone!’ the two cried together. ‘Neither he, +nor his brother, nor his sister, nor the King’s niece, nor her brother, +nor any one of all the brave three hundred, noble or commoner, except +we three, has risen above the water!’ Fitz-Stephen, with a ghastly +face, cried, ‘Woe! woe, to me!’ and sunk to the bottom. + +The other two clung to the yard for some hours. At length the young +noble said faintly, ‘I am exhausted, and chilled with the cold, and can +hold no longer. Farewell, good friend! God preserve you!’ So, he +dropped and sunk; and of all the brilliant crowd, the poor Butcher of +Rouen alone was saved. In the morning, some fishermen saw him floating +in his sheep-skin coat, and got him into their boat—the sole relater of +the dismal tale. + +For three days, no one dared to carry the intelligence to the King. At +length, they sent into his presence a little boy, who, weeping +bitterly, and kneeling at his feet, told him that The White Ship was +lost with all on board. The King fell to the ground like a dead man, +and never, never afterwards, was seen to smile. + +But he plotted again, and promised again, and bribed and bought again, +in his old deceitful way. Having no son to succeed him, after all his +pains (‘The Prince will never yoke us to the plough, now!’ said the +English people), he took a second wife—Adelais or Alice, a duke’s +daughter, and the Pope’s niece. Having no more children, however, he +proposed to the Barons to swear that they would recognise as his +successor, his daughter Matilda, whom, as she was now a widow, he +married to the eldest son of the Count of Anjou, Geoffrey, surnamed +Plantagenet, from a custom he had of wearing a sprig of flowering broom +(called Genêt in French) in his cap for a feather. As one false man +usually makes many, and as a false King, in particular, is pretty +certain to make a false Court, the Barons took the oath about the +succession of Matilda (and her children after her), twice over, without +in the least intending to keep it. The King was now relieved from any +remaining fears of William Fitz-Robert, by his death in the Monastery +of St. Omer, in France, at twenty-six years old, of a pike-wound in the +hand. And as Matilda gave birth to three sons, he thought the +succession to the throne secure. + +He spent most of the latter part of his life, which was troubled by +family quarrels, in Normandy, to be near Matilda. When he had reigned +upward of thirty-five years, and was sixty-seven years old, he died of +an indigestion and fever, brought on by eating, when he was far from +well, of a fish called Lamprey, against which he had often been +cautioned by his physicians. His remains were brought over to Reading +Abbey to be buried. + +You may perhaps hear the cunning and promise-breaking of King Henry the +First, called ‘policy’ by some people, and ‘diplomacy’ by others. +Neither of these fine words will in the least mean that it was true; +and nothing that is not true can possibly be good. + +His greatest merit, that I know of, was his love of learning—I should +have given him greater credit even for that, if it had been strong +enough to induce him to spare the eyes of a certain poet he once took +prisoner, who was a knight besides. But he ordered the poet’s eyes to +be torn from his head, because he had laughed at him in his verses; and +the poet, in the pain of that torture, dashed out his own brains +against his prison wall. King Henry the First was avaricious, +revengeful, and so false, that I suppose a man never lived whose word +was less to be relied upon. + + + + +CHAPTER XI +ENGLAND UNDER MATILDA AND STEPHEN + + +The King was no sooner dead than all the plans and schemes he had +laboured at so long, and lied so much for, crumbled away like a hollow +heap of sand. Stephen, whom he had never mistrusted or suspected, +started up to claim the throne. + +Stephen was the son of Adela, the Conqueror’s daughter, married to the +Count of Blois. To Stephen, and to his brother Henry, the late King had +been liberal; making Henry Bishop of Winchester, and finding a good +marriage for Stephen, and much enriching him. This did not prevent +Stephen from hastily producing a false witness, a servant of the late +King, to swear that the King had named him for his heir upon his +death-bed. On this evidence the Archbishop of Canterbury crowned him. +The new King, so suddenly made, lost not a moment in seizing the Royal +treasure, and hiring foreign soldiers with some of it to protect his +throne. + +If the dead King had even done as the false witness said, he would have +had small right to will away the English people, like so many sheep or +oxen, without their consent. But he had, in fact, bequeathed all his +territory to Matilda; who, supported by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, +soon began to dispute the crown. Some of the powerful barons and +priests took her side; some took Stephen’s; all fortified their +castles; and again the miserable English people were involved in war, +from which they could never derive advantage whosoever was victorious, +and in which all parties plundered, tortured, starved, and ruined them. + +Five years had passed since the death of Henry the First—and during +those five years there had been two terrible invasions by the people of +Scotland under their King, David, who was at last defeated with all his +army—when Matilda, attended by her brother Robert and a large force, +appeared in England to maintain her claim. A battle was fought between +her troops and King Stephen’s at Lincoln; in which the King himself was +taken prisoner, after bravely fighting until his battle-axe and sword +were broken, and was carried into strict confinement at Gloucester. +Matilda then submitted herself to the Priests, and the Priests crowned +her Queen of England. + +She did not long enjoy this dignity. The people of London had a great +affection for Stephen; many of the Barons considered it degrading to be +ruled by a woman; and the Queen’s temper was so haughty that she made +innumerable enemies. The people of London revolted; and, in alliance +with the troops of Stephen, besieged her at Winchester, where they took +her brother Robert prisoner, whom, as her best soldier and chief +general, she was glad to exchange for Stephen himself, who thus +regained his liberty. Then, the long war went on afresh. Once, she was +pressed so hard in the Castle of Oxford, in the winter weather when the +snow lay thick upon the ground, that her only chance of escape was to +dress herself all in white, and, accompanied by no more than three +faithful Knights, dressed in like manner that their figures might not +be seen from Stephen’s camp as they passed over the snow, to steal away +on foot, cross the frozen Thames, walk a long distance, and at last +gallop away on horseback. All this she did, but to no great purpose +then; for her brother dying while the struggle was yet going on, she at +last withdrew to Normandy. + +In two or three years after her withdrawal her cause appeared in +England, afresh, in the person of her son Henry, young Plantagenet, +who, at only eighteen years of age, was very powerful: not only on +account of his mother having resigned all Normandy to him, but also +from his having married Eleanor, the divorced wife of the French King, +a bad woman, who had great possessions in France. Louis, the French +King, not relishing this arrangement, helped Eustace, King Stephen’s +son, to invade Normandy: but Henry drove their united forces out of +that country, and then returned here, to assist his partisans, whom the +King was then besieging at Wallingford upon the Thames. Here, for two +days, divided only by the river, the two armies lay encamped opposite +to one another—on the eve, as it seemed to all men, of another +desperate fight, when the Earl of Arundel took heart and said ‘that it +was not reasonable to prolong the unspeakable miseries of two kingdoms +to minister to the ambition of two princes.’ + +Many other noblemen repeating and supporting this when it was once +uttered, Stephen and young Plantagenet went down, each to his own bank +of the river, and held a conversation across it, in which they arranged +a truce; very much to the dissatisfaction of Eustace, who swaggered +away with some followers, and laid violent hands on the Abbey of St. +Edmund’s-Bury, where he presently died mad. The truce led to a solemn +council at Winchester, in which it was agreed that Stephen should +retain the crown, on condition of his declaring Henry his successor; +that William, another son of the King’s, should inherit his father’s +rightful possessions; and that all the Crown lands which Stephen had +given away should be recalled, and all the Castles he had permitted to +be built demolished. Thus terminated the bitter war, which had now +lasted fifteen years, and had again laid England waste. In the next +year Stephen died, after a troubled reign of nineteen years. + +Although King Stephen was, for the time in which he lived, a humane and +moderate man, with many excellent qualities; and although nothing worse +is known of him than his usurpation of the Crown, which he probably +excused to himself by the consideration that King Henry the First was a +usurper too—which was no excuse at all; the people of England suffered +more in these dread nineteen years, than at any former period even of +their suffering history. In the division of the nobility between the +two rival claimants of the Crown, and in the growth of what is called +the Feudal System (which made the peasants the born vassals and mere +slaves of the Barons), every Noble had his strong Castle, where he +reigned the cruel king of all the neighbouring people. Accordingly, he +perpetrated whatever cruelties he chose. And never were worse cruelties +committed upon earth than in wretched England in those nineteen years. + +The writers who were living then describe them fearfully. They say that +the castles were filled with devils rather than with men; that the +peasants, men and women, were put into dungeons for their gold and +silver, were tortured with fire and smoke, were hung up by the thumbs, +were hung up by the heels with great weights to their heads, were torn +with jagged irons, killed with hunger, broken to death in narrow chests +filled with sharp-pointed stones, murdered in countless fiendish ways. +In England there was no corn, no meat, no cheese, no butter, there were +no tilled lands, no harvests. Ashes of burnt towns, and dreary wastes, +were all that the traveller, fearful of the robbers who prowled abroad +at all hours, would see in a long day’s journey; and from sunrise until +night, he would not come upon a home. + +The clergy sometimes suffered, and heavily too, from pillage, but many +of them had castles of their own, and fought in helmet and armour like +the barons, and drew lots with other fighting men for their share of +booty. The Pope (or Bishop of Rome), on King Stephen’s resisting his +ambition, laid England under an Interdict at one period of this reign; +which means that he allowed no service to be performed in the churches, +no couples to be married, no bells to be rung, no dead bodies to be +buried. Any man having the power to refuse these things, no matter +whether he were called a Pope or a Poulterer, would, of course, have +the power of afflicting numbers of innocent people. That nothing might +be wanting to the miseries of King Stephen’s time, the Pope threw in +this contribution to the public store—not very like the widow’s +contribution, as I think, when Our Saviour sat in Jerusalem +over-against the Treasury, ‘and she threw in two mites, which make a +farthing.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SECOND + +PART THE FIRST + +Henry Plantagenet, when he was but twenty-one years old, quietly +succeeded to the throne of England, according to his agreement made +with the late King at Winchester. Six weeks after Stephen’s death, he +and his Queen, Eleanor, were crowned in that city; into which they rode +on horseback in great state, side by side, amidst much shouting and +rejoicing, and clashing of music, and strewing of flowers. + +The reign of King Henry the Second began well. The King had great +possessions, and (what with his own rights, and what with those of his +wife) was lord of one-third part of France. He was a young man of +vigour, ability, and resolution, and immediately applied himself to +remove some of the evils which had arisen in the last unhappy reign. He +revoked all the grants of land that had been hastily made, on either +side, during the late struggles; he obliged numbers of disorderly +soldiers to depart from England; he reclaimed all the castles belonging +to the Crown; and he forced the wicked nobles to pull down their own +castles, to the number of eleven hundred, in which such dismal +cruelties had been inflicted on the people. The King’s brother, +Geoffrey, rose against him in France, while he was so well employed, +and rendered it necessary for him to repair to that country; where, +after he had subdued and made a friendly arrangement with his brother +(who did not live long), his ambition to increase his possessions +involved him in a war with the French King, Louis, with whom he had +been on such friendly terms just before, that to the French King’s +infant daughter, then a baby in the cradle, he had promised one of his +little sons in marriage, who was a child of five years old. However, +the war came to nothing at last, and the Pope made the two Kings +friends again. + +Now, the clergy, in the troubles of the last reign, had gone on very +ill indeed. There were all kinds of criminals among them—murderers, +thieves, and vagabonds; and the worst of the matter was, that the good +priests would not give up the bad priests to justice, when they +committed crimes, but persisted in sheltering and defending them. The +King, well knowing that there could be no peace or rest in England +while such things lasted, resolved to reduce the power of the clergy; +and, when he had reigned seven years, found (as he considered) a good +opportunity for doing so, in the death of the Archbishop of Canterbury. +‘I will have for the new Archbishop,’ thought the King, ‘a friend in +whom I can trust, who will help me to humble these rebellious priests, +and to have them dealt with, when they do wrong, as other men who do +wrong are dealt with.’ So, he resolved to make his favourite, the new +Archbishop; and this favourite was so extraordinary a man, and his +story is so curious, that I must tell you all about him. + +Once upon a time, a worthy merchant of London, named Gilbert à Becket, +made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and was taken prisoner by a Saracen +lord. This lord, who treated him kindly and not like a slave, had one +fair daughter, who fell in love with the merchant; and who told him +that she wanted to become a Christian, and was willing to marry him if +they could fly to a Christian country. The merchant returned her love, +until he found an opportunity to escape, when he did not trouble +himself about the Saracen lady, but escaped with his servant Richard, +who had been taken prisoner along with him, and arrived in England and +forgot her. The Saracen lady, who was more loving than the merchant, +left her father’s house in disguise to follow him, and made her way, +under many hardships, to the sea-shore. The merchant had taught her +only two English words (for I suppose he must have learnt the Saracen +tongue himself, and made love in that language), of which London was +one, and his own name, Gilbert, the other. She went among the ships, +saying, ‘London! London!’ over and over again, until the sailors +understood that she wanted to find an English vessel that would carry +her there; so they showed her such a ship, and she paid for her passage +with some of her jewels, and sailed away. Well! The merchant was +sitting in his counting-house in London one day, when he heard a great +noise in the street; and presently Richard came running in from the +warehouse, with his eyes wide open and his breath almost gone, saying, +‘Master, master, here is the Saracen lady!’ The merchant thought +Richard was mad; but Richard said, ‘No, master! As I live, the Saracen +lady is going up and down the city, calling Gilbert! Gilbert!’ Then, he +took the merchant by the sleeve, and pointed out of window; and there +they saw her among the gables and water-spouts of the dark, dirty +street, in her foreign dress, so forlorn, surrounded by a wondering +crowd, and passing slowly along, calling Gilbert, Gilbert! When the +merchant saw her, and thought of the tenderness she had shown him in +his captivity, and of her constancy, his heart was moved, and he ran +down into the street; and she saw him coming, and with a great cry +fainted in his arms. They were married without loss of time, and +Richard (who was an excellent man) danced with joy the whole day of the +wedding; and they all lived happy ever afterwards. + +This merchant and this Saracen lady had one son, Thomas à Becket. He it +was who became the Favourite of King Henry the Second. + +He had become Chancellor, when the King thought of making him +Archbishop. He was clever, gay, well educated, brave; had fought in +several battles in France; had defeated a French knight in single +combat, and brought his horse away as a token of the victory. He lived +in a noble palace, he was the tutor of the young Prince Henry, he was +served by one hundred and forty knights, his riches were immense. The +King once sent him as his ambassador to France; and the French people, +beholding in what state he travelled, cried out in the streets, ‘How +splendid must the King of England be, when this is only the +Chancellor!’ They had good reason to wonder at the magnificence of +Thomas à Becket, for, when he entered a French town, his procession was +headed by two hundred and fifty singing boys; then, came his hounds in +couples; then, eight waggons, each drawn by five horses driven by five +drivers: two of the waggons filled with strong ale to be given away to +the people; four, with his gold and silver plate and stately clothes; +two, with the dresses of his numerous servants. Then, came twelve +horses, each with a monkey on his back; then, a train of people bearing +shields and leading fine war-horses splendidly equipped; then, +falconers with hawks upon their wrists; then, a host of knights, and +gentlemen and priests; then, the Chancellor with his brilliant garments +flashing in the sun, and all the people capering and shouting with +delight. + +The King was well pleased with all this, thinking that it only made +himself the more magnificent to have so magnificent a favourite; but he +sometimes jested with the Chancellor upon his splendour too. Once, when +they were riding together through the streets of London in hard winter +weather, they saw a shivering old man in rags. ‘Look at the poor +object!’ said the King. ‘Would it not be a charitable act to give that +aged man a comfortable warm cloak?’ ‘Undoubtedly it would,’ said Thomas +à Becket, ‘and you do well, Sir, to think of such Christian duties.’ +‘Come!’ cried the King, ‘then give him your cloak!’ It was made of rich +crimson trimmed with ermine. The King tried to pull it off, the +Chancellor tried to keep it on, both were near rolling from their +saddles in the mud, when the Chancellor submitted, and the King gave +the cloak to the old beggar: much to the beggar’s astonishment, and +much to the merriment of all the courtiers in attendance. For, +courtiers are not only eager to laugh when the King laughs, but they +really do enjoy a laugh against a Favourite. + +‘I will make,’ thought King Henry the second, ‘this Chancellor of mine, +Thomas à Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. He will then be the head of +the Church, and, being devoted to me, will help me to correct the +Church. He has always upheld my power against the power of the clergy, +and once publicly told some bishops (I remember), that men of the +Church were equally bound to me, with men of the sword. Thomas à Becket +is the man, of all other men in England, to help me in my great +design.’ So the King, regardless of all objection, either that he was a +fighting man, or a lavish man, or a courtly man, or a man of pleasure, +or anything but a likely man for the office, made him Archbishop +accordingly. + +Now, Thomas à Becket was proud and loved to be famous. He was already +famous for the pomp of his life, for his riches, his gold and silver +plate, his waggons, horses, and attendants. He could do no more in that +way than he had done; and being tired of that kind of fame (which is a +very poor one), he longed to have his name celebrated for something +else. Nothing, he knew, would render him so famous in the world, as the +setting of his utmost power and ability against the utmost power and +ability of the King. He resolved with the whole strength of his mind to +do it. + +He may have had some secret grudge against the King besides. The King +may have offended his proud humour at some time or other, for anything +I know. I think it likely, because it is a common thing for Kings, +Princes, and other great people, to try the tempers of their favourites +rather severely. Even the little affair of the crimson cloak must have +been anything but a pleasant one to a haughty man. Thomas à Becket knew +better than any one in England what the King expected of him. In all +his sumptuous life, he had never yet been in a position to disappoint +the King. He could take up that proud stand now, as head of the Church; +and he determined that it should be written in history, either that he +subdued the King, or that the King subdued him. + +So, of a sudden, he completely altered the whole manner of his life. He +turned off all his brilliant followers, ate coarse food, drank bitter +water, wore next his skin sackcloth covered with dirt and vermin (for +it was then thought very religious to be very dirty), flogged his back +to punish himself, lived chiefly in a little cell, washed the feet of +thirteen poor people every day, and looked as miserable as he possibly +could. If he had put twelve hundred monkeys on horseback instead of +twelve, and had gone in procession with eight thousand waggons instead +of eight, he could not have half astonished the people so much as by +this great change. It soon caused him to be more talked about as an +Archbishop than he had been as a Chancellor. + +The King was very angry; and was made still more so, when the new +Archbishop, claiming various estates from the nobles as being +rightfully Church property, required the King himself, for the same +reason, to give up Rochester Castle, and Rochester City too. Not +satisfied with this, he declared that no power but himself should +appoint a priest to any Church in the part of England over which he was +Archbishop; and when a certain gentleman of Kent made such an +appointment, as he claimed to have the right to do, Thomas à Becket +excommunicated him. + +Excommunication was, next to the Interdict I told you of at the close +of the last chapter, the great weapon of the clergy. It consisted in +declaring the person who was excommunicated, an outcast from the Church +and from all religious offices; and in cursing him all over, from the +top of his head to the sole of his foot, whether he was standing up, +lying down, sitting, kneeling, walking, running, hopping, jumping, +gaping, coughing, sneezing, or whatever else he was doing. This +unchristian nonsense would of course have made no sort of difference to +the person cursed—who could say his prayers at home if he were shut out +of church, and whom none but God could judge—but for the fears and +superstitions of the people, who avoided excommunicated persons, and +made their lives unhappy. So, the King said to the New Archbishop, +‘Take off this Excommunication from this gentleman of Kent.’ To which +the Archbishop replied, ‘I shall do no such thing.’ + +The quarrel went on. A priest in Worcestershire committed a most +dreadful murder, that aroused the horror of the whole nation. The King +demanded to have this wretch delivered up, to be tried in the same +court and in the same way as any other murderer. The Archbishop +refused, and kept him in the Bishop’s prison. The King, holding a +solemn assembly in Westminster Hall, demanded that in future all +priests found guilty before their Bishops of crimes against the law of +the land should be considered priests no longer, and should be +delivered over to the law of the land for punishment. The Archbishop +again refused. The King required to know whether the clergy would obey +the ancient customs of the country? Every priest there, but one, said, +after Thomas à Becket, ‘Saving my order.’ This really meant that they +would only obey those customs when they did not interfere with their +own claims; and the King went out of the Hall in great wrath. + +Some of the clergy began to be afraid, now, that they were going too +far. Though Thomas à Becket was otherwise as unmoved as Westminster +Hall, they prevailed upon him, for the sake of their fears, to go to +the King at Woodstock, and promise to observe the ancient customs of +the country, without saying anything about his order. The King received +this submission favourably, and summoned a great council of the clergy +to meet at the Castle of Clarendon, by Salisbury. But when the council +met, the Archbishop again insisted on the words ‘saying my order;’ and +he still insisted, though lords entreated him, and priests wept before +him and knelt to him, and an adjoining room was thrown open, filled +with armed soldiers of the King, to threaten him. At length he gave +way, for that time, and the ancient customs (which included what the +King had demanded in vain) were stated in writing, and were signed and +sealed by the chief of the clergy, and were called the Constitutions of +Clarendon. + +The quarrel went on, for all that. The Archbishop tried to see the +King. The King would not see him. The Archbishop tried to escape from +England. The sailors on the coast would launch no boat to take him +away. Then, he again resolved to do his worst in opposition to the +King, and began openly to set the ancient customs at defiance. + +The King summoned him before a great council at Northampton, where he +accused him of high treason, and made a claim against him, which was +not a just one, for an enormous sum of money. Thomas à Becket was alone +against the whole assembly, and the very Bishops advised him to resign +his office and abandon his contest with the King. His great anxiety and +agitation stretched him on a sick-bed for two days, but he was still +undaunted. He went to the adjourned council, carrying a great cross in +his right hand, and sat down holding it erect before him. The King +angrily retired into an inner room. The whole assembly angrily retired +and left him there. But there he sat. The Bishops came out again in a +body, and renounced him as a traitor. He only said, ‘I hear!’ and sat +there still. They retired again into the inner room, and his trial +proceeded without him. By-and-by, the Earl of Leicester, heading the +barons, came out to read his sentence. He refused to hear it, denied +the power of the court, and said he would refer his cause to the Pope. +As he walked out of the hall, with the cross in his hand, some of those +present picked up rushes—rushes were strewn upon the floors in those +days by way of carpet—and threw them at him. He proudly turned his +head, and said that were he not Archbishop, he would chastise those +cowards with the sword he had known how to use in bygone days. He then +mounted his horse, and rode away, cheered and surrounded by the common +people, to whom he threw open his house that night and gave a supper, +supping with them himself. That same night he secretly departed from +the town; and so, travelling by night and hiding by day, and calling +himself ‘Brother Dearman,’ got away, not without difficulty, to +Flanders. + +The struggle still went on. The angry King took possession of the +revenues of the archbishopric, and banished all the relations and +servants of Thomas à Becket, to the number of four hundred. The Pope +and the French King both protected him, and an abbey was assigned for +his residence. Stimulated by this support, Thomas à Becket, on a great +festival day, formally proceeded to a great church crowded with people, +and going up into the pulpit publicly cursed and excommunicated all who +had supported the Constitutions of Clarendon: mentioning many English +noblemen by name, and not distantly hinting at the King of England +himself. + +When intelligence of this new affront was carried to the King in his +chamber, his passion was so furious that he tore his clothes, and +rolled like a madman on his bed of straw and rushes. But he was soon up +and doing. He ordered all the ports and coasts of England to be +narrowly watched, that no letters of Interdict might be brought into +the kingdom; and sent messengers and bribes to the Pope’s palace at +Rome. Meanwhile, Thomas à Becket, for his part, was not idle at Rome, +but constantly employed his utmost arts in his own behalf. Thus the +contest stood, until there was peace between France and England (which +had been for some time at war), and until the two children of the two +Kings were married in celebration of it. Then, the French King brought +about a meeting between Henry and his old favourite, so long his enemy. + +Even then, though Thomas à Becket knelt before the King, he was +obstinate and immovable as to those words about his order. King Louis +of France was weak enough in his veneration for Thomas à Becket and +such men, but this was a little too much for him. He said that à Becket +‘wanted to be greater than the saints and better than St. Peter,’ and +rode away from him with the King of England. His poor French Majesty +asked à Becket’s pardon for so doing, however, soon afterwards, and cut +a very pitiful figure. + +At last, and after a world of trouble, it came to this. There was +another meeting on French ground between King Henry and Thomas à +Becket, and it was agreed that Thomas à Becket should be Archbishop of +Canterbury, according to the customs of former Archbishops, and that +the King should put him in possession of the revenues of that post. And +now, indeed, you might suppose the struggle at an end, and Thomas à +Becket at rest. No, not even yet. For Thomas à Becket hearing, by some +means, that King Henry, when he was in dread of his kingdom being +placed under an interdict, had had his eldest son Prince Henry secretly +crowned, not only persuaded the Pope to suspend the Archbishop of York +who had performed that ceremony, and to excommunicate the Bishops who +had assisted at it, but sent a messenger of his own into England, in +spite of all the King’s precautions along the coast, who delivered the +letters of excommunication into the Bishops’ own hands. Thomas à Becket +then came over to England himself, after an absence of seven years. He +was privately warned that it was dangerous to come, and that an ireful +knight, named Ranulf de Broc, had threatened that he should not live to +eat a loaf of bread in England; but he came. + +The common people received him well, and marched about with him in a +soldierly way, armed with such rustic weapons as they could get. He +tried to see the young prince who had once been his pupil, but was +prevented. He hoped for some little support among the nobles and +priests, but found none. He made the most of the peasants who attended +him, and feasted them, and went from Canterbury to Harrow-on-the-Hill, +and from Harrow-on-the-Hill back to Canterbury, and on Christmas Day +preached in the Cathedral there, and told the people in his sermon that +he had come to die among them, and that it was likely he would be +murdered. He had no fear, however—or, if he had any, he had much more +obstinacy—for he, then and there, excommunicated three of his enemies, +of whom Ranulf de Broc, the ireful knight, was one. + +As men in general had no fancy for being cursed, in their sitting and +walking, and gaping and sneezing, and all the rest of it, it was very +natural in the persons so freely excommunicated to complain to the +King. It was equally natural in the King, who had hoped that this +troublesome opponent was at last quieted, to fall into a mighty rage +when he heard of these new affronts; and, on the Archbishop of York +telling him that he never could hope for rest while Thomas à Becket +lived, to cry out hastily before his court, ‘Have I no one here who +will deliver me from this man?’ There were four knights present, who, +hearing the King’s words, looked at one another, and went out. + +The names of these knights were Reginald Fitzurse, William Tracy, Hugh +de Morville, and Richard Brito; three of whom had been in the train of +Thomas à Becket in the old days of his splendour. They rode away on +horseback, in a very secret manner, and on the third day after +Christmas Day arrived at Saltwood House, not far from Canterbury, which +belonged to the family of Ranulf de Broc. They quietly collected some +followers here, in case they should need any; and proceeding to +Canterbury, suddenly appeared (the four knights and twelve men) before +the Archbishop, in his own house, at two o’clock in the afternoon. They +neither bowed nor spoke, but sat down on the floor in silence, staring +at the Archbishop. + +Thomas à Becket said, at length, ‘What do you want?’ + +‘We want,’ said Reginald Fitzurse, ‘the excommunication taken from the +Bishops, and you to answer for your offences to the King.’ Thomas à +Becket defiantly replied, that the power of the clergy was above the +power of the King. That it was not for such men as they were, to +threaten him. That if he were threatened by all the swords in England, +he would never yield. + +‘Then we will do more than threaten!’ said the knights. And they went +out with the twelve men, and put on their armour, and drew their +shining swords, and came back. + +His servants, in the meantime, had shut up and barred the great gate of +the palace. At first, the knights tried to shatter it with their +battle-axes; but, being shown a window by which they could enter, they +let the gate alone, and climbed in that way. While they were battering +at the door, the attendants of Thomas à Becket had implored him to take +refuge in the Cathedral; in which, as a sanctuary or sacred place, they +thought the knights would dare to do no violent deed. He told them, +again and again, that he would not stir. Hearing the distant voices of +the monks singing the evening service, however, he said it was now his +duty to attend, and therefore, and for no other reason, he would go. + +There was a near way between his Palace and the Cathedral, by some +beautiful old cloisters which you may yet see. He went into the +Cathedral, without any hurry, and having the Cross carried before him +as usual. When he was safely there, his servants would have fastened +the door, but he said No! it was the house of God and not a fortress. + +As he spoke, the shadow of Reginald Fitzurse appeared in the Cathedral +doorway, darkening the little light there was outside, on the dark +winter evening. This knight said, in a strong voice, ‘Follow me, loyal +servants of the King!’ The rattle of the armour of the other knights +echoed through the Cathedral, as they came clashing in. + +It was so dark, in the lofty aisles and among the stately pillars of +the church, and there were so many hiding-places in the crypt below and +in the narrow passages above, that Thomas à Becket might even at that +pass have saved himself if he would. But he would not. He told the +monks resolutely that he would not. And though they all dispersed and +left him there with no other follower than Edward Gryme, his faithful +cross-bearer, he was as firm then, as ever he had been in his life. + +The knights came on, through the darkness, making a terrible noise with +their armed tread upon the stone pavement of the church. ‘Where is the +traitor?’ they cried out. He made no answer. But when they cried, +‘Where is the Archbishop?’ he said proudly, ‘I am here!’ and came out +of the shade and stood before them. + +The knights had no desire to kill him, if they could rid the King and +themselves of him by any other means. They told him he must either fly +or go with them. He said he would do neither; and he threw William +Tracy off with such force when he took hold of his sleeve, that Tracy +reeled again. By his reproaches and his steadiness, he so incensed +them, and exasperated their fierce humour, that Reginald Fitzurse, whom +he called by an ill name, said, ‘Then die!’ and struck at his head. But +the faithful Edward Gryme put out his arm, and there received the main +force of the blow, so that it only made his master bleed. Another voice +from among the knights again called to Thomas à Becket to fly; but, +with his blood running down his face, and his hands clasped, and his +head bent, he commanded himself to God, and stood firm. Then they +cruelly killed him close to the altar of St. Bennet; and his body fell +upon the pavement, which was dirtied with his blood and brains. + +It is an awful thing to think of the murdered mortal, who had so +showered his curses about, lying, all disfigured, in the church, where +a few lamps here and there were but red specks on a pall of darkness; +and to think of the guilty knights riding away on horseback, looking +over their shoulders at the dim Cathedral, and remembering what they +had left inside. + +PART THE SECOND + +When the King heard how Thomas à Becket had lost his life in Canterbury +Cathedral, through the ferocity of the four Knights, he was filled with +dismay. Some have supposed that when the King spoke those hasty words, +‘Have I no one here who will deliver me from this man?’ he wished, and +meant à Becket to be slain. But few things are more unlikely; for, +besides that the King was not naturally cruel (though very passionate), +he was wise, and must have known full well what any stupid man in his +dominions must have known, namely, that such a murder would rouse the +Pope and the whole Church against him. + +He sent respectful messengers to the Pope, to represent his innocence +(except in having uttered the hasty words); and he swore solemnly and +publicly to his innocence, and contrived in time to make his peace. As +to the four guilty Knights, who fled into Yorkshire, and never again +dared to show themselves at Court, the Pope excommunicated them; and +they lived miserably for some time, shunned by all their countrymen. At +last, they went humbly to Jerusalem as a penance, and there died and +were buried. + +It happened, fortunately for the pacifying of the Pope, that an +opportunity arose very soon after the murder of à Becket, for the King +to declare his power in Ireland—which was an acceptable undertaking to +the Pope, as the Irish, who had been converted to Christianity by one +Patricius (otherwise Saint Patrick) long ago, before any Pope existed, +considered that the Pope had nothing at all to do with them, or they +with the Pope, and accordingly refused to pay him Peter’s Pence, or +that tax of a penny a house which I have elsewhere mentioned. The +King’s opportunity arose in this way. + +The Irish were, at that time, as barbarous a people as you can well +imagine. They were continually quarrelling and fighting, cutting one +another’s throats, slicing one another’s noses, burning one another’s +houses, carrying away one another’s wives, and committing all sorts of +violence. The country was divided into five kingdoms—Desmond, Thomond, +Connaught, Ulster, and Leinster—each governed by a separate King, of +whom one claimed to be the chief of the rest. Now, one of these Kings, +named Dermond Mac Murrough (a wild kind of name, spelt in more than one +wild kind of way), had carried off the wife of a friend of his, and +concealed her on an island in a bog. The friend resenting this (though +it was quite the custom of the country), complained to the chief King, +and, with the chief King’s help, drove Dermond Mac Murrough out of his +dominions. Dermond came over to England for revenge; and offered to +hold his realm as a vassal of King Henry, if King Henry would help him +to regain it. The King consented to these terms; but only assisted him, +then, with what were called Letters Patent, authorising any English +subjects who were so disposed, to enter into his service, and aid his +cause. + +There was, at Bristol, a certain Earl Richard de Clare, called +Strongbow; of no very good character; needy and desperate, and ready +for anything that offered him a chance of improving his fortunes. There +were, in South Wales, two other broken knights of the same +good-for-nothing sort, called Robert Fitz-Stephen, and Maurice +Fitz-Gerald. These three, each with a small band of followers, took up +Dermond’s cause; and it was agreed that if it proved successful, +Strongbow should marry Dermond’s daughter Eva, and be declared his +heir. + +The trained English followers of these knights were so superior in all +the discipline of battle to the Irish, that they beat them against +immense superiority of numbers. In one fight, early in the war, they +cut off three hundred heads, and laid them before Mac Murrough; who +turned them every one up with his hands, rejoicing, and, coming to one +which was the head of a man whom he had much disliked, grasped it by +the hair and ears, and tore off the nose and lips with his teeth. You +may judge from this, what kind of a gentleman an Irish King in those +times was. The captives, all through this war, were horribly treated; +the victorious party making nothing of breaking their limbs, and +casting them into the sea from the tops of high rocks. It was in the +midst of the miseries and cruelties attendant on the taking of +Waterford, where the dead lay piled in the streets, and the filthy +gutters ran with blood, that Strongbow married Eva. An odious +marriage-company those mounds of corpses must have made, I think, and +one quite worthy of the young lady’s father. + +He died, after Waterford and Dublin had been taken, and various +successes achieved; and Strongbow became King of Leinster. Now came +King Henry’s opportunity. To restrain the growing power of Strongbow, +he himself repaired to Dublin, as Strongbow’s Royal Master, and +deprived him of his kingdom, but confirmed him in the enjoyment of +great possessions. The King, then, holding state in Dublin, received +the homage of nearly all the Irish Kings and Chiefs, and so came home +again with a great addition to his reputation as Lord of Ireland, and +with a new claim on the favour of the Pope. And now, their +reconciliation was completed—more easily and mildly by the Pope, than +the King might have expected, I think. + +At this period of his reign, when his troubles seemed so few and his +prospects so bright, those domestic miseries began which gradually made +the King the most unhappy of men, reduced his great spirit, wore away +his health, and broke his heart. + +He had four sons. Henry, now aged eighteen—his secret crowning of whom +had given such offence to Thomas à Becket. Richard, aged sixteen; +Geoffrey, fifteen; and John, his favourite, a young boy whom the +courtiers named Lackland, because he had no inheritance, but to whom +the King meant to give the Lordship of Ireland. All these misguided +boys, in their turn, were unnatural sons to him, and unnatural brothers +to each other. Prince Henry, stimulated by the French King, and by his +bad mother, Queen Eleanor, began the undutiful history. + +First, he demanded that his young wife, Margaret, the French King’s +daughter, should be crowned as well as he. His father, the King, +consented, and it was done. It was no sooner done, than he demanded to +have a part of his father’s dominions, during his father’s life. This +being refused, he made off from his father in the night, with his bad +heart full of bitterness, and took refuge at the French King’s Court. +Within a day or two, his brothers Richard and Geoffrey followed. Their +mother tried to join them—escaping in man’s clothes—but she was seized +by King Henry’s men, and immured in prison, where she lay, deservedly, +for sixteen years. Every day, however, some grasping English noblemen, +to whom the King’s protection of his people from their avarice and +oppression had given offence, deserted him and joined the Princes. +Every day he heard some fresh intelligence of the Princes levying +armies against him; of Prince Henry’s wearing a crown before his own +ambassadors at the French Court, and being called the Junior King of +England; of all the Princes swearing never to make peace with him, +their father, without the consent and approval of the Barons of France. +But, with his fortitude and energy unshaken, King Henry met the shock +of these disasters with a resolved and cheerful face. He called upon +all Royal fathers who had sons, to help him, for his cause was theirs; +he hired, out of his riches, twenty thousand men to fight the false +French King, who stirred his own blood against him; and he carried on +the war with such vigour, that Louis soon proposed a conference to +treat for peace. + +The conference was held beneath an old wide-spreading green elm-tree, +upon a plain in France. It led to nothing. The war recommenced. Prince +Richard began his fighting career, by leading an army against his +father; but his father beat him and his army back; and thousands of his +men would have rued the day in which they fought in such a wicked +cause, had not the King received news of an invasion of England by the +Scots, and promptly come home through a great storm to repress it. And +whether he really began to fear that he suffered these troubles because +à Becket had been murdered; or whether he wished to rise in the favour +of the Pope, who had now declared à Becket to be a saint, or in the +favour of his own people, of whom many believed that even à Becket’s +senseless tomb could work miracles, I don’t know: but the King no +sooner landed in England than he went straight to Canterbury; and when +he came within sight of the distant Cathedral, he dismounted from his +horse, took off his shoes, and walked with bare and bleeding feet to à +Becket’s grave. There, he lay down on the ground, lamenting, in the +presence of many people; and by-and-by he went into the Chapter House, +and, removing his clothes from his back and shoulders, submitted +himself to be beaten with knotted cords (not beaten very hard, I dare +say though) by eighty Priests, one after another. It chanced that on +the very day when the King made this curious exhibition of himself, a +complete victory was obtained over the Scots; which very much delighted +the Priests, who said that it was won because of his great example of +repentance. For the Priests in general had found out, since à Becket’s +death, that they admired him of all things—though they had hated him +very cordially when he was alive. + +The Earl of Flanders, who was at the head of the base conspiracy of the +King’s undutiful sons and their foreign friends, took the opportunity +of the King being thus employed at home, to lay siege to Rouen, the +capital of Normandy. But the King, who was extraordinarily quick and +active in all his movements, was at Rouen, too, before it was supposed +possible that he could have left England; and there he so defeated the +said Earl of Flanders, that the conspirators proposed peace, and his +bad sons Henry and Geoffrey submitted. Richard resisted for six weeks; +but, being beaten out of castle after castle, he at last submitted too, +and his father forgave him. + +To forgive these unworthy princes was only to afford them +breathing-time for new faithlessness. They were so false, disloyal, and +dishonourable, that they were no more to be trusted than common +thieves. In the very next year, Prince Henry rebelled again, and was +again forgiven. In eight years more, Prince Richard rebelled against +his elder brother; and Prince Geoffrey infamously said that the +brothers could never agree well together, unless they were united +against their father. In the very next year after their reconciliation +by the King, Prince Henry again rebelled against his father; and again +submitted, swearing to be true; and was again forgiven; and again +rebelled with Geoffrey. + +But the end of this perfidious Prince was come. He fell sick at a +French town; and his conscience terribly reproaching him with his +baseness, he sent messengers to the King his father, imploring him to +come and see him, and to forgive him for the last time on his bed of +death. The generous King, who had a royal and forgiving mind towards +his children always, would have gone; but this Prince had been so +unnatural, that the noblemen about the King suspected treachery, and +represented to him that he could not safely trust his life with such a +traitor, though his own eldest son. Therefore the King sent him a ring +from off his finger as a token of forgiveness; and when the Prince had +kissed it, with much grief and many tears, and had confessed to those +around him how bad, and wicked, and undutiful a son he had been; he +said to the attendant Priests: ‘O, tie a rope about my body, and draw +me out of bed, and lay me down upon a bed of ashes, that I may die with +prayers to God in a repentant manner!’ And so he died, at twenty-seven +years old. + +Three years afterwards, Prince Geoffrey, being unhorsed at a +tournament, had his brains trampled out by a crowd of horses passing +over him. So, there only remained Prince Richard, and Prince John—who +had grown to be a young man now, and had solemnly sworn to be faithful +to his father. Richard soon rebelled again, encouraged by his friend +the French King, Philip the Second (son of Louis, who was dead); and +soon submitted and was again forgiven, swearing on the New Testament +never to rebel again; and in another year or so, rebelled again; and, +in the presence of his father, knelt down on his knee before the King +of France; and did the French King homage: and declared that with his +aid he would possess himself, by force, of all his father’s French +dominions. + +And yet this Richard called himself a soldier of Our Saviour! And yet +this Richard wore the Cross, which the Kings of France and England had +both taken, in the previous year, at a brotherly meeting underneath the +old wide-spreading elm-tree on the plain, when they had sworn (like +him) to devote themselves to a new Crusade, for the love and honour of +the Truth! + +Sick at heart, wearied out by the falsehood of his sons, and almost +ready to lie down and die, the unhappy King who had so long stood firm, +began to fail. But the Pope, to his honour, supported him; and obliged +the French King and Richard, though successful in fight, to treat for +peace. Richard wanted to be Crowned King of England, and pretended that +he wanted to be married (which he really did not) to the French King’s +sister, his promised wife, whom King Henry detained in England. King +Henry wanted, on the other hand, that the French King’s sister should +be married to his favourite son, John: the only one of his sons (he +said) who had never rebelled against him. At last King Henry, deserted +by his nobles one by one, distressed, exhausted, broken-hearted, +consented to establish peace. + +One final heavy sorrow was reserved for him, even yet. When they +brought him the proposed treaty of peace, in writing, as he lay very +ill in bed, they brought him also the list of the deserters from their +allegiance, whom he was required to pardon. The first name upon this +list was John, his favourite son, in whom he had trusted to the last. + +‘O John! child of my heart!’ exclaimed the King, in a great agony of +mind. ‘O John, whom I have loved the best! O John, for whom I have +contended through these many troubles! Have you betrayed me too!’ And +then he lay down with a heavy groan, and said, ‘Now let the world go as +it will. I care for nothing more!’ + +After a time, he told his attendants to take him to the French town of +Chinon—a town he had been fond of, during many years. But he was fond +of no place now; it was too true that he could care for nothing more +upon this earth. He wildly cursed the hour when he was born, and cursed +the children whom he left behind him; and expired. + +As, one hundred years before, the servile followers of the Court had +abandoned the Conqueror in the hour of his death, so they now abandoned +his descendant. The very body was stripped, in the plunder of the Royal +chamber; and it was not easy to find the means of carrying it for +burial to the abbey church of Fontevraud. + +Richard was said in after years, by way of flattery, to have the heart +of a Lion. It would have been far better, I think, to have had the +heart of a Man. His heart, whatever it was, had cause to beat +remorsefully within his breast, when he came—as he did—into the solemn +abbey, and looked on his dead father’s uncovered face. His heart, +whatever it was, had been a black and perjured heart, in all its +dealings with the deceased King, and more deficient in a single touch +of tenderness than any wild beast’s in the forest. + +There is a pretty story told of this Reign, called the story of Fair +Rosamond. It relates how the King doted on Fair Rosamond, who was the +loveliest girl in all the world; and how he had a beautiful Bower built +for her in a Park at Woodstock; and how it was erected in a labyrinth, +and could only be found by a clue of silk. How the bad Queen Eleanor, +becoming jealous of Fair Rosamond, found out the secret of the clue, +and one day, appeared before her, with a dagger and a cup of poison, +and left her to the choice between those deaths. How Fair Rosamond, +after shedding many piteous tears and offering many useless prayers to +the cruel Queen, took the poison, and fell dead in the midst of the +beautiful bower, while the unconscious birds sang gaily all around her. + +Now, there _was_ a fair Rosamond, and she was (I dare say) the +loveliest girl in all the world, and the King was certainly very fond +of her, and the bad Queen Eleanor was certainly made jealous. But I am +afraid—I say afraid, because I like the story so much—that there was no +bower, no labyrinth, no silken clue, no dagger, no poison. I am afraid +fair Rosamond retired to a nunnery near Oxford, and died there, +peaceably; her sister-nuns hanging a silken drapery over her tomb, and +often dressing it with flowers, in remembrance of the youth and beauty +that had enchanted the King when he too was young, and when his life +lay fair before him. + +It was dark and ended now; faded and gone. Henry Plantagenet lay quiet +in the abbey church of Fontevraud, in the fifty-seventh year of his +age—never to be completed—after governing England well, for nearly +thirty-five years. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE FIRST, CALLED THE LION-HEART + + +In the year of our Lord one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine, +Richard of the Lion Heart succeeded to the throne of King Henry the +Second, whose paternal heart he had done so much to break. He had been, +as we have seen, a rebel from his boyhood; but, the moment he became a +king against whom others might rebel, he found out that rebellion was a +great wickedness. In the heat of this pious discovery, he punished all +the leading people who had befriended him against his father. He could +scarcely have done anything that would have been a better instance of +his real nature, or a better warning to fawners and parasites not to +trust in lion-hearted princes. + +He likewise put his late father’s treasurer in chains, and locked him +up in a dungeon from which he was not set free until he had +relinquished, not only all the Crown treasure, but all his own money +too. So, Richard certainly got the Lion’s share of the wealth of this +wretched treasurer, whether he had a Lion’s heart or not. + +He was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster: +walking to the Cathedral under a silken canopy stretched on the tops of +four lances, each carried by a great lord. On the day of his +coronation, a dreadful murdering of the Jews took place, which seems to +have given great delight to numbers of savage persons calling +themselves Christians. The King had issued a proclamation forbidding +the Jews (who were generally hated, though they were the most useful +merchants in England) to appear at the ceremony; but as they had +assembled in London from all parts, bringing presents to show their +respect for the new Sovereign, some of them ventured down to +Westminster Hall with their gifts; which were very readily accepted. It +is supposed, now, that some noisy fellow in the crowd, pretending to be +a very delicate Christian, set up a howl at this, and struck a Jew who +was trying to get in at the Hall door with his present. A riot arose. +The Jews who had got into the Hall, were driven forth; and some of the +rabble cried out that the new King had commanded the unbelieving race +to be put to death. Thereupon the crowd rushed through the narrow +streets of the city, slaughtering all the Jews they met; and when they +could find no more out of doors (on account of their having fled to +their houses, and fastened themselves in), they ran madly about, +breaking open all the houses where the Jews lived, rushing in and +stabbing or spearing them, sometimes even flinging old people and +children out of window into blazing fires they had lighted up below. +This great cruelty lasted four-and-twenty hours, and only three men +were punished for it. Even they forfeited their lives not for murdering +and robbing the Jews, but for burning the houses of some Christians. + +King Richard, who was a strong, restless, burly man, with one idea +always in his head, and that the very troublesome idea of breaking the +heads of other men, was mightily impatient to go on a Crusade to the +Holy Land, with a great army. As great armies could not be raised to +go, even to the Holy Land, without a great deal of money, he sold the +Crown domains, and even the high offices of State; recklessly +appointing noblemen to rule over his English subjects, not because they +were fit to govern, but because they could pay high for the privilege. +In this way, and by selling pardons at a dear rate and by varieties of +avarice and oppression, he scraped together a large treasure. He then +appointed two Bishops to take care of his kingdom in his absence, and +gave great powers and possessions to his brother John, to secure his +friendship. John would rather have been made Regent of England; but he +was a sly man, and friendly to the expedition; saying to himself, no +doubt, ‘The more fighting, the more chance of my brother being killed; +and when he _is_ killed, then I become King John!’ + +Before the newly levied army departed from England, the recruits and +the general populace distinguished themselves by astonishing cruelties +on the unfortunate Jews: whom, in many large towns, they murdered by +hundreds in the most horrible manner. + +At York, a large body of Jews took refuge in the Castle, in the absence +of its Governor, after the wives and children of many of them had been +slain before their eyes. Presently came the Governor, and demanded +admission. ‘How can we give it thee, O Governor!’ said the Jews upon +the walls, ‘when, if we open the gate by so much as the width of a +foot, the roaring crowd behind thee will press in and kill us?’ + +Upon this, the unjust Governor became angry, and told the people that +he approved of their killing those Jews; and a mischievous maniac of a +friar, dressed all in white, put himself at the head of the assault, +and they assaulted the Castle for three days. + +Then said Jocen, the head-Jew (who was a Rabbi or Priest), to the rest, +‘Brethren, there is no hope for us with the Christians who are +hammering at the gates and walls, and who must soon break in. As we and +our wives and children must die, either by Christian hands, or by our +own, let it be by our own. Let us destroy by fire what jewels and other +treasure we have here, then fire the castle, and then perish!’ + +A few could not resolve to do this, but the greater part complied. They +made a blazing heap of all their valuables, and, when those were +consumed, set the castle in flames. While the flames roared and +crackled around them, and shooting up into the sky, turned it +blood-red, Jocen cut the throat of his beloved wife, and stabbed +himself. All the others who had wives or children, did the like +dreadful deed. When the populace broke in, they found (except the +trembling few, cowering in corners, whom they soon killed) only heaps +of greasy cinders, with here and there something like part of the +blackened trunk of a burnt tree, but which had lately been a human +creature, formed by the beneficent hand of the Creator as they were. + +After this bad beginning, Richard and his troops went on, in no very +good manner, with the Holy Crusade. It was undertaken jointly by the +King of England and his old friend Philip of France. They commenced the +business by reviewing their forces, to the number of one hundred +thousand men. Afterwards, they severally embarked their troops for +Messina, in Sicily, which was appointed as the next place of meeting. + +King Richard’s sister had married the King of this place, but he was +dead: and his uncle Tancred had usurped the crown, cast the Royal Widow +into prison, and possessed himself of her estates. Richard fiercely +demanded his sister’s release, the restoration of her lands, and +(according to the Royal custom of the Island) that she should have a +golden chair, a golden table, four-and-twenty silver cups, and +four-and-twenty silver dishes. As he was too powerful to be +successfully resisted, Tancred yielded to his demands; and then the +French King grew jealous, and complained that the English King wanted +to be absolute in the Island of Messina and everywhere else. Richard, +however, cared little or nothing for this complaint; and in +consideration of a present of twenty thousand pieces of gold, promised +his pretty little nephew Arthur, then a child of two years old, in +marriage to Tancred’s daughter. We shall hear again of pretty little +Arthur by-and-by. + +This Sicilian affair arranged without anybody’s brains being knocked +out (which must have rather disappointed him), King Richard took his +sister away, and also a fair lady named Berengaria, with whom he had +fallen in love in France, and whom his mother, Queen Eleanor (so long +in prison, you remember, but released by Richard on his coming to the +Throne), had brought out there to be his wife; and sailed with them for +Cyprus. + +He soon had the pleasure of fighting the King of the Island of Cyprus, +for allowing his subjects to pillage some of the English troops who +were shipwrecked on the shore; and easily conquering this poor monarch, +he seized his only daughter, to be a companion to the lady Berengaria, +and put the King himself into silver fetters. He then sailed away again +with his mother, sister, wife, and the captive princess; and soon +arrived before the town of Acre, which the French King with his fleet +was besieging from the sea. But the French King was in no triumphant +condition, for his army had been thinned by the swords of the Saracens, +and wasted by the plague; and Saladin, the brave Sultan of the Turks, +at the head of a numerous army, was at that time gallantly defending +the place from the hills that rise above it. + +Wherever the united army of Crusaders went, they agreed in few points +except in gaming, drinking, and quarrelling, in a most unholy manner; +in debauching the people among whom they tarried, whether they were +friends or foes; and in carrying disturbance and ruin into quiet +places. The French King was jealous of the English King, and the +English King was jealous of the French King, and the disorderly and +violent soldiers of the two nations were jealous of one another; +consequently, the two Kings could not at first agree, even upon a joint +assault on Acre; but when they did make up their quarrel for that +purpose, the Saracens promised to yield the town, to give up to the +Christians the wood of the Holy Cross, to set at liberty all their +Christian captives, and to pay two hundred thousand pieces of gold. All +this was to be done within forty days; but, not being done, King +Richard ordered some three thousand Saracen prisoners to be brought out +in the front of his camp, and there, in full view of their own +countrymen, to be butchered. + +The French King had no part in this crime; for he was by that time +travelling homeward with the greater part of his men; being offended by +the overbearing conduct of the English King; being anxious to look +after his own dominions; and being ill, besides, from the unwholesome +air of that hot and sandy country. King Richard carried on the war +without him; and remained in the East, meeting with a variety of +adventures, nearly a year and a half. Every night when his army was on +the march, and came to a halt, the heralds cried out three times, to +remind all the soldiers of the cause in which they were engaged, ‘Save +the Holy Sepulchre!’ and then all the soldiers knelt and said ‘Amen!’ +Marching or encamping, the army had continually to strive with the hot +air of the glaring desert, or with the Saracen soldiers animated and +directed by the brave Saladin, or with both together. Sickness and +death, battle and wounds, were always among them; but through every +difficulty King Richard fought like a giant, and worked like a common +labourer. Long and long after he was quiet in his grave, his terrible +battle-axe, with twenty English pounds of English steel in its mighty +head, was a legend among the Saracens; and when all the Saracen and +Christian hosts had been dust for many a year, if a Saracen horse +started at any object by the wayside, his rider would exclaim, ‘What +dost thou fear, Fool? Dost thou think King Richard is behind it?’ + +No one admired this King’s renown for bravery more than Saladin +himself, who was a generous and gallant enemy. When Richard lay ill of +a fever, Saladin sent him fresh fruits from Damascus, and snow from the +mountain-tops. Courtly messages and compliments were frequently +exchanged between them—and then King Richard would mount his horse and +kill as many Saracens as he could; and Saladin would mount his, and +kill as many Christians as he could. In this way King Richard fought to +his heart’s content at Arsoof and at Jaffa; and finding himself with +nothing exciting to do at Ascalon, except to rebuild, for his own +defence, some fortifications there which the Saracens had destroyed, he +kicked his ally the Duke of Austria, for being too proud to work at +them. + +The army at last came within sight of the Holy City of Jerusalem; but, +being then a mere nest of jealousy, and quarrelling and fighting, soon +retired, and agreed with the Saracens upon a truce for three years, +three months, three days, and three hours. Then, the English +Christians, protected by the noble Saladin from Saracen revenge, +visited Our Saviour’s tomb; and then King Richard embarked with a small +force at Acre to return home. + +But he was shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea, and was fain to pass +through Germany, under an assumed name. Now, there were many people in +Germany who had served in the Holy Land under that proud Duke of +Austria who had been kicked; and some of them, easily recognising a man +so remarkable as King Richard, carried their intelligence to the kicked +Duke, who straightway took him prisoner at a little inn near Vienna. + +The Duke’s master the Emperor of Germany, and the King of France, were +equally delighted to have so troublesome a monarch in safe keeping. +Friendships which are founded on a partnership in doing wrong, are +never true; and the King of France was now quite as heartily King +Richard’s foe, as he had ever been his friend in his unnatural conduct +to his father. He monstrously pretended that King Richard had designed +to poison him in the East; he charged him with having murdered, there, +a man whom he had in truth befriended; he bribed the Emperor of Germany +to keep him close prisoner; and, finally, through the plotting of these +two princes, Richard was brought before the German legislature, charged +with the foregoing crimes, and many others. But he defended himself so +well, that many of the assembly were moved to tears by his eloquence +and earnestness. It was decided that he should be treated, during the +rest of his captivity, in a manner more becoming his dignity than he +had been, and that he should be set free on the payment of a heavy +ransom. This ransom the English people willingly raised. When Queen +Eleanor took it over to Germany, it was at first evaded and refused. +But she appealed to the honour of all the princes of the German Empire +in behalf of her son, and appealed so well that it was accepted, and +the King released. Thereupon, the King of France wrote to Prince +John—‘Take care of thyself. The devil is unchained!’ + +Prince John had reason to fear his brother, for he had been a traitor +to him in his captivity. He had secretly joined the French King; had +vowed to the English nobles and people that his brother was dead; and +had vainly tried to seize the crown. He was now in France, at a place +called Evreux. Being the meanest and basest of men, he contrived a mean +and base expedient for making himself acceptable to his brother. He +invited the French officers of the garrison in that town to dinner, +murdered them all, and then took the fortress. With this recommendation +to the good will of a lion-hearted monarch, he hastened to King +Richard, fell on his knees before him, and obtained the intercession of +Queen Eleanor. ‘I forgive him,’ said the King, ‘and I hope I may forget +the injury he has done me, as easily as I know he will forget my +pardon.’ + +While King Richard was in Sicily, there had been trouble in his +dominions at home: one of the bishops whom he had left in charge +thereof, arresting the other; and making, in his pride and ambition, as +great a show as if he were King himself. But the King hearing of it at +Messina, and appointing a new Regency, this Longchamp (for that was his +name) had fled to France in a woman’s dress, and had there been +encouraged and supported by the French King. With all these causes of +offence against Philip in his mind, King Richard had no sooner been +welcomed home by his enthusiastic subjects with great display and +splendour, and had no sooner been crowned afresh at Winchester, than he +resolved to show the French King that the Devil was unchained indeed, +and made war against him with great fury. + +There was fresh trouble at home about this time, arising out of the +discontents of the poor people, who complained that they were far more +heavily taxed than the rich, and who found a spirited champion in +William Fitz-Osbert, called Longbeard. He became the leader of a secret +society, comprising fifty thousand men; he was seized by surprise; he +stabbed the citizen who first laid hands upon him; and retreated, +bravely fighting, to a church, which he maintained four days, until he +was dislodged by fire, and run through the body as he came out. He was +not killed, though; for he was dragged, half dead, at the tail of a +horse to Smithfield, and there hanged. Death was long a favourite +remedy for silencing the people’s advocates; but as we go on with this +history, I fancy we shall find them difficult to make an end of, for +all that. + +The French war, delayed occasionally by a truce, was still in progress +when a certain Lord named Vidomar, Viscount of Limoges, chanced to find +in his ground a treasure of ancient coins. As the King’s vassal, he +sent the King half of it; but the King claimed the whole. The lord +refused to yield the whole. The King besieged the lord in his castle, +swore that he would take the castle by storm, and hang every man of its +defenders on the battlements. + +There was a strange old song in that part of the country, to the effect +that in Limoges an arrow would be made by which King Richard would die. +It may be that Bertrand de Gourdon, a young man who was one of the +defenders of the castle, had often sung it or heard it sung of a winter +night, and remembered it when he saw, from his post upon the ramparts, +the King attended only by his chief officer riding below the walls +surveying the place. He drew an arrow to the head, took steady aim, +said between his teeth, ‘Now I pray God speed thee well, arrow!’ +discharged it, and struck the King in the left shoulder. + +Although the wound was not at first considered dangerous, it was severe +enough to cause the King to retire to his tent, and direct the assault +to be made without him. The castle was taken; and every man of its +defenders was hanged, as the King had sworn all should be, except +Bertrand de Gourdon, who was reserved until the royal pleasure +respecting him should be known. + +By that time unskilful treatment had made the wound mortal and the King +knew that he was dying. He directed Bertrand to be brought into his +tent. The young man was brought there, heavily chained, King Richard +looked at him steadily. He looked, as steadily, at the King. + +‘Knave!’ said King Richard. ‘What have I done to thee that thou +shouldest take my life?’ + +‘What hast thou done to me?’ replied the young man. ‘With thine own +hands thou hast killed my father and my two brothers. Myself thou +wouldest have hanged. Let me die now, by any torture that thou wilt. My +comfort is, that no torture can save Thee. Thou too must die; and, +through me, the world is quit of thee!’ + +Again the King looked at the young man steadily. Again the young man +looked steadily at him. Perhaps some remembrance of his generous enemy +Saladin, who was not a Christian, came into the mind of the dying King. + +‘Youth!’ he said, ‘I forgive thee. Go unhurt!’ Then, turning to the +chief officer who had been riding in his company when he received the +wound, King Richard said: + +‘Take off his chains, give him a hundred shillings, and let him +depart.’ + +He sunk down on his couch, and a dark mist seemed in his weakened eyes +to fill the tent wherein he had so often rested, and he died. His age +was forty-two; he had reigned ten years. His last command was not +obeyed; for the chief officer flayed Bertrand de Gourdon alive, and +hanged him. + +There is an old tune yet known—a sorrowful air will sometimes outlive +many generations of strong men, and even last longer than battle-axes +with twenty pounds of steel in the head—by which this King is said to +have been discovered in his captivity. Blondel, a favourite Minstrel of +King Richard, as the story relates, faithfully seeking his Royal +master, went singing it outside the gloomy walls of many foreign +fortresses and prisons; until at last he heard it echoed from within a +dungeon, and knew the voice, and cried out in ecstasy, ‘O Richard, O my +King!’ You may believe it, if you like; it would be easy to believe +worse things. Richard was himself a Minstrel and a Poet. If he had not +been a Prince too, he might have been a better man perhaps, and might +have gone out of the world with less bloodshed and waste of life to +answer for. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV +ENGLAND UNDER KING JOHN, CALLED LACKLAND + + +At two-and-thirty years of age, John became King of England. His pretty +little nephew Arthur had the best claim to the throne; but John seized +the treasure, and made fine promises to the nobility, and got himself +crowned at Westminster within a few weeks after his brother Richard’s +death. I doubt whether the crown could possibly have been put upon the +head of a meaner coward, or a more detestable villain, if England had +been searched from end to end to find him out. + +The French King, Philip, refused to acknowledge the right of John to +his new dignity, and declared in favour of Arthur. You must not suppose +that he had any generosity of feeling for the fatherless boy; it merely +suited his ambitious schemes to oppose the King of England. So John and +the French King went to war about Arthur. + +He was a handsome boy, at that time only twelve years old. He was not +born when his father, Geoffrey, had his brains trampled out at the +tournament; and, besides the misfortune of never having known a +father’s guidance and protection, he had the additional misfortune to +have a foolish mother (Constance by name), lately married to her third +husband. She took Arthur, upon John’s accession, to the French King, +who pretended to be very much his friend, and who made him a Knight, +and promised him his daughter in marriage; but, who cared so little +about him in reality, that finding it his interest to make peace with +King John for a time, he did so without the least consideration for the +poor little Prince, and heartlessly sacrificed all his interests. + +Young Arthur, for two years afterwards, lived quietly; and in the +course of that time his mother died. But, the French King then finding +it his interest to quarrel with King John again, again made Arthur his +pretence, and invited the orphan boy to court. ‘You know your rights, +Prince,’ said the French King, ‘and you would like to be a King. Is it +not so?’ ‘Truly,’ said Prince Arthur, ‘I should greatly like to be a +King!’ ‘Then,’ said Philip, ‘you shall have two hundred gentlemen who +are Knights of mine, and with them you shall go to win back the +provinces belonging to you, of which your uncle, the usurping King of +England, has taken possession. I myself, meanwhile, will head a force +against him in Normandy.’ Poor Arthur was so flattered and so grateful +that he signed a treaty with the crafty French King, agreeing to +consider him his superior Lord, and that the French King should keep +for himself whatever he could take from King John. + +Now, King John was so bad in all ways, and King Philip was so +perfidious, that Arthur, between the two, might as well have been a +lamb between a fox and a wolf. But, being so young, he was ardent and +flushed with hope; and, when the people of Brittany (which was his +inheritance) sent him five hundred more knights and five thousand foot +soldiers, he believed his fortune was made. The people of Brittany had +been fond of him from his birth, and had requested that he might be +called Arthur, in remembrance of that dimly-famous English Arthur, of +whom I told you early in this book, whom they believed to have been the +brave friend and companion of an old King of their own. They had tales +among them about a prophet called Merlin (of the same old time), who +had foretold that their own King should be restored to them after +hundreds of years; and they believed that the prophecy would be +fulfilled in Arthur; that the time would come when he would rule them +with a crown of Brittany upon his head; and when neither King of France +nor King of England would have any power over them. When Arthur found +himself riding in a glittering suit of armour on a richly caparisoned +horse, at the head of his train of knights and soldiers, he began to +believe this too, and to consider old Merlin a very superior prophet. + +He did not know—how could he, being so innocent and inexperienced?—that +his little army was a mere nothing against the power of the King of +England. The French King knew it; but the poor boy’s fate was little to +him, so that the King of England was worried and distressed. Therefore, +King Philip went his way into Normandy and Prince Arthur went his way +towards Mirebeau, a French town near Poictiers, both very well pleased. + +Prince Arthur went to attack the town of Mirebeau, because his +grandmother Eleanor, who has so often made her appearance in this +history (and who had always been his mother’s enemy), was living there, +and because his Knights said, ‘Prince, if you can take her prisoner, +you will be able to bring the King your uncle to terms!’ But she was +not to be easily taken. She was old enough by this time—eighty—but she +was as full of stratagem as she was full of years and wickedness. +Receiving intelligence of young Arthur’s approach, she shut herself up +in a high tower, and encouraged her soldiers to defend it like men. +Prince Arthur with his little army besieged the high tower. King John, +hearing how matters stood, came up to the rescue, with _his_ army. So +here was a strange family-party! The boy-Prince besieging his +grandmother, and his uncle besieging him! + +This position of affairs did not last long. One summer night King John, +by treachery, got his men into the town, surprised Prince Arthur’s +force, took two hundred of his knights, and seized the Prince himself +in his bed. The Knights were put in heavy irons, and driven away in +open carts drawn by bullocks, to various dungeons where they were most +inhumanly treated, and where some of them were starved to death. Prince +Arthur was sent to the castle of Falaise. + +One day, while he was in prison at that castle, mournfully thinking it +strange that one so young should be in so much trouble, and looking out +of the small window in the deep dark wall, at the summer sky and the +birds, the door was softly opened, and he saw his uncle the King +standing in the shadow of the archway, looking very grim. + +‘Arthur,’ said the King, with his wicked eyes more on the stone floor +than on his nephew, ‘will you not trust to the gentleness, the +friendship, and the truthfulness of your loving uncle?’ + +‘I will tell my loving uncle that,’ replied the boy, ‘when he does me +right. Let him restore to me my kingdom of England, and then come to me +and ask the question.’ + +The King looked at him and went out. ‘Keep that boy close prisoner,’ +said he to the warden of the castle. + +Then, the King took secret counsel with the worst of his nobles how the +Prince was to be got rid of. Some said, ‘Put out his eyes and keep him +in prison, as Robort of Normandy was kept.’ Others said, ‘Have him +stabbed.’ Others, ‘Have him hanged.’ Others, ‘Have him poisoned.’ + +King John, feeling that in any case, whatever was done afterwards, it +would be a satisfaction to his mind to have those handsome eyes burnt +out that had looked at him so proudly while his own royal eyes were +blinking at the stone floor, sent certain ruffians to Falaise to blind +the boy with red-hot irons. But Arthur so pathetically entreated them, +and shed such piteous tears, and so appealed to Hubert de Bourg (or +Burgh), the warden of the castle, who had a love for him, and was an +honourable, tender man, that Hubert could not bear it. To his eternal +honour he prevented the torture from being performed, and, at his own +risk, sent the savages away. + +The chafed and disappointed King bethought himself of the stabbing +suggestion next, and, with his shuffling manner and his cruel face, +proposed it to one William de Bray. ‘I am a gentleman and not an +executioner,’ said William de Bray, and left the presence with disdain. + +But it was not difficult for a King to hire a murderer in those days. +King John found one for his money, and sent him down to the castle of +Falaise. ‘On what errand dost thou come?’ said Hubert to this fellow. +‘To despatch young Arthur,’ he returned. ‘Go back to him who sent +thee,’ answered Hubert, ‘and say that I will do it!’ + +King John very well knowing that Hubert would never do it, but that he +courageously sent this reply to save the Prince or gain time, +despatched messengers to convey the young prisoner to the castle of +Rouen. + +Arthur was soon forced from the good Hubert—of whom he had never stood +in greater need than then—carried away by night, and lodged in his new +prison: where, through his grated window, he could hear the deep waters +of the river Seine, rippling against the stone wall below. + +One dark night, as he lay sleeping, dreaming perhaps of rescue by those +unfortunate gentlemen who were obscurely suffering and dying in his +cause, he was roused, and bidden by his jailer to come down the +staircase to the foot of the tower. He hurriedly dressed himself and +obeyed. When they came to the bottom of the winding stairs, and the +night air from the river blew upon their faces, the jailer trod upon +his torch and put it out. Then, Arthur, in the darkness, was hurriedly +drawn into a solitary boat. And in that boat, he found his uncle and +one other man. + +He knelt to them, and prayed them not to murder him. Deaf to his +entreaties, they stabbed him and sunk his body in the river with heavy +stones. When the spring-morning broke, the tower-door was closed, the +boat was gone, the river sparkled on its way, and never more was any +trace of the poor boy beheld by mortal eyes. + +The news of this atrocious murder being spread in England, awakened a +hatred of the King (already odious for his many vices, and for his +having stolen away and married a noble lady while his own wife was +living) that never slept again through his whole reign. In Brittany, +the indignation was intense. Arthur’s own sister Eleanor was in the +power of John and shut up in a convent at Bristol, but his half-sister +Alice was in Brittany. The people chose her, and the murdered prince’s +father-in-law, the last husband of Constance, to represent them; and +carried their fiery complaints to King Philip. King Philip summoned +King John (as the holder of territory in France) to come before him and +defend himself. King John refusing to appear, King Philip declared him +false, perjured, and guilty; and again made war. In a little time, by +conquering the greater part of his French territory, King Philip +deprived him of one-third of his dominions. And, through all the +fighting that took place, King John was always found, either to be +eating and drinking, like a gluttonous fool, when the danger was at a +distance, or to be running away, like a beaten cur, when it was near. + +You might suppose that when he was losing his dominions at this rate, +and when his own nobles cared so little for him or his cause that they +plainly refused to follow his banner out of England, he had enemies +enough. But he made another enemy of the Pope, which he did in this +way. + +The Archbishop of Canterbury dying, and the junior monks of that place +wishing to get the start of the senior monks in the appointment of his +successor, met together at midnight, secretly elected a certain +Reginald, and sent him off to Rome to get the Pope’s approval. The +senior monks and the King soon finding this out, and being very angry +about it, the junior monks gave way, and all the monks together elected +the Bishop of Norwich, who was the King’s favourite. The Pope, hearing +the whole story, declared that neither election would do for him, and +that _he_ elected Stephen Langton. The monks submitting to the Pope, +the King turned them all out bodily, and banished them as traitors. The +Pope sent three bishops to the King, to threaten him with an Interdict. +The King told the bishops that if any Interdict were laid upon his +kingdom, he would tear out the eyes and cut off the noses of all the +monks he could lay hold of, and send them over to Rome in that +undecorated state as a present for their master. The bishops, +nevertheless, soon published the Interdict, and fled. + +After it had lasted a year, the Pope proceeded to his next step; which +was Excommunication. King John was declared excommunicated, with all +the usual ceremonies. The King was so incensed at this, and was made so +desperate by the disaffection of his Barons and the hatred of his +people, that it is said he even privately sent ambassadors to the Turks +in Spain, offering to renounce his religion and hold his kingdom of +them if they would help him. It is related that the ambassadors were +admitted to the presence of the Turkish Emir through long lines of +Moorish guards, and that they found the Emir with his eyes seriously +fixed on the pages of a large book, from which he never once looked up. +That they gave him a letter from the King containing his proposals, and +were gravely dismissed. That presently the Emir sent for one of them, +and conjured him, by his faith in his religion, to say what kind of man +the King of England truly was? That the ambassador, thus pressed, +replied that the King of England was a false tyrant, against whom his +own subjects would soon rise. And that this was quite enough for the +Emir. + +Money being, in his position, the next best thing to men, King John +spared no means of getting it. He set on foot another oppressing and +torturing of the unhappy Jews (which was quite in his way), and +invented a new punishment for one wealthy Jew of Bristol. Until such +time as that Jew should produce a certain large sum of money, the King +sentenced him to be imprisoned, and, every day, to have one tooth +violently wrenched out of his head—beginning with the double teeth. For +seven days, the oppressed man bore the daily pain and lost the daily +tooth; but, on the eighth, he paid the money. With the treasure raised +in such ways, the King made an expedition into Ireland, where some +English nobles had revolted. It was one of the very few places from +which he did not run away; because no resistance was shown. He made +another expedition into Wales—whence he _did_ run away in the end: but +not before he had got from the Welsh people, as hostages, twenty-seven +young men of the best families; every one of whom he caused to be slain +in the following year. + +To Interdict and Excommunication, the Pope now added his last sentence; +Deposition. He proclaimed John no longer King, absolved all his +subjects from their allegiance, and sent Stephen Langton and others to +the King of France to tell him that, if he would invade England, he +should be forgiven all his sins—at least, should be forgiven them by +the Pope, if that would do. + +As there was nothing that King Philip desired more than to invade +England, he collected a great army at Rouen, and a fleet of seventeen +hundred ships to bring them over. But the English people, however +bitterly they hated the King, were not a people to suffer invasion +quietly. They flocked to Dover, where the English standard was, in such +great numbers to enrol themselves as defenders of their native land, +that there were not provisions for them, and the King could only select +and retain sixty thousand. But, at this crisis, the Pope, who had his +own reasons for objecting to either King John or King Philip being too +powerful, interfered. He entrusted a legate, whose name was Pandolf, +with the easy task of frightening King John. He sent him to the English +Camp, from France, to terrify him with exaggerations of King Philip’s +power, and his own weakness in the discontent of the English Barons and +people. Pandolf discharged his commission so well, that King John, in a +wretched panic, consented to acknowledge Stephen Langton; to resign his +kingdom ‘to God, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul’—which meant the Pope; and +to hold it, ever afterwards, by the Pope’s leave, on payment of an +annual sum of money. To this shameful contract he publicly bound +himself in the church of the Knights Templars at Dover: where he laid +at the legate’s feet a part of the tribute, which the legate haughtily +trampled upon. But they _do_ say, that this was merely a genteel +flourish, and that he was afterwards seen to pick it up and pocket it. + +There was an unfortunate prophet, the name of Peter, who had greatly +increased King John’s terrors by predicting that he would be unknighted +(which the King supposed to signify that he would die) before the Feast +of the Ascension should be past. That was the day after this +humiliation. When the next morning came, and the King, who had been +trembling all night, found himself alive and safe, he ordered the +prophet—and his son too—to be dragged through the streets at the tails +of horses, and then hanged, for having frightened him. + +As King John had now submitted, the Pope, to King Philip’s great +astonishment, took him under his protection, and informed King Philip +that he found he could not give him leave to invade England. The angry +Philip resolved to do it without his leave but he gained nothing and +lost much; for, the English, commanded by the Earl of Salisbury, went +over, in five hundred ships, to the French coast, before the French +fleet had sailed away from it, and utterly defeated the whole. + +The Pope then took off his three sentences, one after another, and +empowered Stephen Langton publicly to receive King John into the favour +of the Church again, and to ask him to dinner. The King, who hated +Langton with all his might and main—and with reason too, for he was a +great and a good man, with whom such a King could have no +sympathy—pretended to cry and to be _very_ grateful. There was a little +difficulty about settling how much the King should pay as a recompense +to the clergy for the losses he had caused them; but, the end of it +was, that the superior clergy got a good deal, and the inferior clergy +got little or nothing—which has also happened since King John’s time, I +believe. + +When all these matters were arranged, the King in his triumph became +more fierce, and false, and insolent to all around him than he had ever +been. An alliance of sovereigns against King Philip, gave him an +opportunity of landing an army in France; with which he even took a +town! But, on the French King’s gaining a great victory, he ran away, +of course, and made a truce for five years. + +And now the time approached when he was to be still further humbled, +and made to feel, if he could feel anything, what a wretched creature +he was. Of all men in the world, Stephen Langton seemed raised up by +Heaven to oppose and subdue him. When he ruthlessly burnt and destroyed +the property of his own subjects, because their Lords, the Barons, +would not serve him abroad, Stephen Langton fearlessly reproved and +threatened him. When he swore to restore the laws of King Edward, or +the laws of King Henry the First, Stephen Langton knew his falsehood, +and pursued him through all his evasions. When the Barons met at the +abbey of Saint Edmund’s-Bury, to consider their wrongs and the King’s +oppressions, Stephen Langton roused them by his fervid words to demand +a solemn charter of rights and liberties from their perjured master, +and to swear, one by one, on the High Altar, that they would have it, +or would wage war against him to the death. When the King hid himself +in London from the Barons, and was at last obliged to receive them, +they told him roundly they would not believe him unless Stephen Langton +became a surety that he would keep his word. When he took the Cross to +invest himself with some interest, and belong to something that was +received with favour, Stephen Langton was still immovable. When he +appealed to the Pope, and the Pope wrote to Stephen Langton in behalf +of his new favourite, Stephen Langton was deaf, even to the Pope +himself, and saw before him nothing but the welfare of England and the +crimes of the English King. + +At Easter-time, the Barons assembled at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, in +proud array, and, marching near to Oxford where the King was, delivered +into the hands of Stephen Langton and two others, a list of grievances. +‘And these,’ they said, ‘he must redress, or we will do it for +ourselves!’ When Stephen Langton told the King as much, and read the +list to him, he went half mad with rage. But that did him no more good +than his afterwards trying to pacify the Barons with lies. They called +themselves and their followers, ‘The army of God and the Holy Church.’ +Marching through the country, with the people thronging to them +everywhere (except at Northampton, where they failed in an attack upon +the castle), they at last triumphantly set up their banner in London +itself, whither the whole land, tired of the tyrant, seemed to flock to +join them. Seven knights alone, of all the knights in England, remained +with the King; who, reduced to this strait, at last sent the Earl of +Pembroke to the Barons to say that he approved of everything, and would +meet them to sign their charter when they would. ‘Then,’ said the +Barons, ‘let the day be the fifteenth of June, and the place, +Runny-Mead.’ + +On Monday, the fifteenth of June, one thousand two hundred and +fourteen, the King came from Windsor Castle, and the Barons came from +the town of Staines, and they met on Runny-Mead, which is still a +pleasant meadow by the Thames, where rushes grow in the clear water of +the winding river, and its banks are green with grass and trees. On the +side of the Barons, came the General of their army, Robert Fitz-Walter, +and a great concourse of the nobility of England. With the King, came, +in all, some four-and-twenty persons of any note, most of whom despised +him, and were merely his advisers in form. On that great day, and in +that great company, the King signed Magna Charta—the great charter of +England—by which he pledged himself to maintain the Church in its +rights; to relieve the Barons of oppressive obligations as vassals of +the Crown—of which the Barons, in their turn, pledged themselves to +relieve _their_ vassals, the people; to respect the liberties of London +and all other cities and boroughs; to protect foreign merchants who +came to England; to imprison no man without a fair trial; and to sell, +delay, or deny justice to none. As the Barons knew his falsehood well, +they further required, as their securities, that he should send out of +his kingdom all his foreign troops; that for two months they should +hold possession of the city of London, and Stephen Langton of the +Tower; and that five-and-twenty of their body, chosen by themselves, +should be a lawful committee to watch the keeping of the charter, and +to make war upon him if he broke it. + +All this he was obliged to yield. He signed the charter with a smile, +and, if he could have looked agreeable, would have done so, as he +departed from the splendid assembly. When he got home to Windsor +Castle, he was quite a madman in his helpless fury. And he broke the +charter immediately afterwards. + +He sent abroad for foreign soldiers, and sent to the Pope for help, and +plotted to take London by surprise, while the Barons should be holding +a great tournament at Stamford, which they had agreed to hold there as +a celebration of the charter. The Barons, however, found him out and +put it off. Then, when the Barons desired to see him and tax him with +his treachery, he made numbers of appointments with them, and kept +none, and shifted from place to place, and was constantly sneaking and +skulking about. At last he appeared at Dover, to join his foreign +soldiers, of whom numbers came into his pay; and with them he besieged +and took Rochester Castle, which was occupied by knights and soldiers +of the Barons. He would have hanged them every one; but the leader of +the foreign soldiers, fearful of what the English people might +afterwards do to him, interfered to save the knights; therefore the +King was fain to satisfy his vengeance with the death of all the common +men. Then, he sent the Earl of Salisbury, with one portion of his army, +to ravage the eastern part of his own dominions, while he carried fire +and slaughter into the northern part; torturing, plundering, killing, +and inflicting every possible cruelty upon the people; and, every +morning, setting a worthy example to his men by setting fire, with his +own monster-hands, to the house where he had slept last night. Nor was +this all; for the Pope, coming to the aid of his precious friend, laid +the kingdom under an Interdict again, because the people took part with +the Barons. It did not much matter, for the people had grown so used to +it now, that they had begun to think nothing about it. It occurred to +them—perhaps to Stephen Langton too—that they could keep their churches +open, and ring their bells, without the Pope’s permission as well as +with it. So, they tried the experiment—and found that it succeeded +perfectly. + +It being now impossible to bear the country, as a wilderness of +cruelty, or longer to hold any terms with such a forsworn outlaw of a +King, the Barons sent to Louis, son of the French monarch, to offer him +the English crown. Caring as little for the Pope’s excommunication of +him if he accepted the offer, as it is possible his father may have +cared for the Pope’s forgiveness of his sins, he landed at Sandwich +(King John immediately running away from Dover, where he happened to +be), and went on to London. The Scottish King, with whom many of the +Northern English Lords had taken refuge, numbers of the foreign +soldiers, numbers of the Barons, and numbers of the people went over to +him every day;—King John, the while, continually running away in all +directions. + +The career of Louis was checked however, by the suspicions of the +Barons, founded on the dying declaration of a French Lord, that when +the kingdom was conquered he was sworn to banish them as traitors, and +to give their estates to some of his own Nobles. Rather than suffer +this, some of the Barons hesitated: others even went over to King John. + +It seemed to be the turning-point of King John’s fortunes, for, in his +savage and murderous course, he had now taken some towns and met with +some successes. But, happily for England and humanity, his death was +near. Crossing a dangerous quicksand, called the Wash, not very far +from Wisbeach, the tide came up and nearly drowned his army. He and his +soldiers escaped; but, looking back from the shore when he was safe, he +saw the roaring water sweep down in a torrent, overturn the waggons, +horses, and men, that carried his treasure, and engulf them in a raging +whirlpool from which nothing could be delivered. + +Cursing, and swearing, and gnawing his fingers, he went on to +Swinestead Abbey, where the monks set before him quantities of pears, +and peaches, and new cider—some say poison too, but there is very +little reason to suppose so—of which he ate and drank in an immoderate +and beastly way. All night he lay ill of a burning fever, and haunted +with horrible fears. Next day, they put him in a horse-litter, and +carried him to Sleaford Castle, where he passed another night of pain +and horror. Next day, they carried him, with greater difficulty than on +the day before, to the castle of Newark upon Trent; and there, on the +eighteenth of October, in the forty-ninth year of his age, and the +seventeenth of his vile reign, was an end of this miserable brute. + + + + +CHAPTER XV +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE THIRD, CALLED, OF WINCHESTER + + +If any of the English Barons remembered the murdered Arthur’s sister, +Eleanor the fair maid of Brittany, shut up in her convent at Bristol, +none among them spoke of her now, or maintained her right to the Crown. +The dead Usurper’s eldest boy, Henry by name, was taken by the Earl of +Pembroke, the Marshal of England, to the city of Gloucester, and there +crowned in great haste when he was only ten years old. As the Crown +itself had been lost with the King’s treasure in the raging water, and +as there was no time to make another, they put a circle of plain gold +upon his head instead. ‘We have been the enemies of this child’s +father,’ said Lord Pembroke, a good and true gentleman, to the few +Lords who were present, ‘and he merited our ill-will; but the child +himself is innocent, and his youth demands our friendship and +protection.’ Those Lords felt tenderly towards the little boy, +remembering their own young children; and they bowed their heads, and +said, ‘Long live King Henry the Third!’ + +Next, a great council met at Bristol, revised Magna Charta, and made +Lord Pembroke Regent or Protector of England, as the King was too young +to reign alone. The next thing to be done, was to get rid of Prince +Louis of France, and to win over those English Barons who were still +ranged under his banner. He was strong in many parts of England, and in +London itself; and he held, among other places, a certain Castle called +the Castle of Mount Sorel, in Leicestershire. To this fortress, after +some skirmishing and truce-making, Lord Pembroke laid siege. Louis +despatched an army of six hundred knights and twenty thousand soldiers +to relieve it. Lord Pembroke, who was not strong enough for such a +force, retired with all his men. The army of the French Prince, which +had marched there with fire and plunder, marched away with fire and +plunder, and came, in a boastful swaggering manner, to Lincoln. The +town submitted; but the Castle in the town, held by a brave widow lady, +named Nichola de Camville (whose property it was), made such a sturdy +resistance, that the French Count in command of the army of the French +Prince found it necessary to besiege this Castle. While he was thus +engaged, word was brought to him that Lord Pembroke, with four hundred +knights, two hundred and fifty men with cross-bows, and a stout force +both of horse and foot, was marching towards him. ‘What care I?’ said +the French Count. ‘The Englishman is not so mad as to attack me and my +great army in a walled town!’ But the Englishman did it for all that, +and did it—not so madly but so wisely, that he decoyed the great army +into the narrow, ill-paved lanes and byways of Lincoln, where its +horse-soldiers could not ride in any strong body; and there he made +such havoc with them, that the whole force surrendered themselves +prisoners, except the Count; who said that he would never yield to any +English traitor alive, and accordingly got killed. The end of this +victory, which the English called, for a joke, the Fair of Lincoln, was +the usual one in those times—the common men were slain without any +mercy, and the knights and gentlemen paid ransom and went home. + +The wife of Louis, the fair Blanche of Castile, dutifully equipped a +fleet of eighty good ships, and sent it over from France to her +husband’s aid. An English fleet of forty ships, some good and some bad, +gallantly met them near the mouth of the Thames, and took or sunk +sixty-five in one fight. This great loss put an end to the French +Prince’s hopes. A treaty was made at Lambeth, in virtue of which the +English Barons who had remained attached to his cause returned to their +allegiance, and it was engaged on both sides that the Prince and all +his troops should retire peacefully to France. It was time to go; for +war had made him so poor that he was obliged to borrow money from the +citizens of London to pay his expenses home. + +Lord Pembroke afterwards applied himself to governing the country +justly, and to healing the quarrels and disturbances that had arisen +among men in the days of the bad King John. He caused Magna Charta to +be still more improved, and so amended the Forest Laws that a Peasant +was no longer put to death for killing a stag in a Royal Forest, but +was only imprisoned. It would have been well for England if it could +have had so good a Protector many years longer, but that was not to be. +Within three years after the young King’s Coronation, Lord Pembroke +died; and you may see his tomb, at this day, in the old Temple Church +in London. + +The Protectorship was now divided. Peter de Roches, whom King John had +made Bishop of Winchester, was entrusted with the care of the person of +the young sovereign; and the exercise of the Royal authority was +confided to Earl Hubert de Burgh. These two personages had from the +first no liking for each other, and soon became enemies. When the young +King was declared of age, Peter de Roches, finding that Hubert +increased in power and favour, retired discontentedly, and went abroad. +For nearly ten years afterwards Hubert had full sway alone. + +But ten years is a long time to hold the favour of a King. This King, +too, as he grew up, showed a strong resemblance to his father, in +feebleness, inconsistency, and irresolution. The best that can be said +of him is that he was not cruel. De Roches coming home again, after ten +years, and being a novelty, the King began to favour him and to look +coldly on Hubert. Wanting money besides, and having made Hubert rich, +he began to dislike Hubert. At last he was made to believe, or +pretended to believe, that Hubert had misappropriated some of the Royal +treasure; and ordered him to furnish an account of all he had done in +his administration. Besides which, the foolish charge was brought +against Hubert that he had made himself the King’s favourite by magic. +Hubert very well knowing that he could never defend himself against +such nonsense, and that his old enemy must be determined on his ruin, +instead of answering the charges fled to Merton Abbey. Then the King, +in a violent passion, sent for the Mayor of London, and said to the +Mayor, ‘Take twenty thousand citizens, and drag me Hubert de Burgh out +of that abbey, and bring him here.’ The Mayor posted off to do it, but +the Archbishop of Dublin (who was a friend of Hubert’s) warning the +King that an abbey was a sacred place, and that if he committed any +violence there, he must answer for it to the Church, the King changed +his mind and called the Mayor back, and declared that Hubert should +have four months to prepare his defence, and should be safe and free +during that time. + +Hubert, who relied upon the King’s word, though I think he was old +enough to have known better, came out of Merton Abbey upon these +conditions, and journeyed away to see his wife: a Scottish Princess who +was then at St. Edmund’s-Bury. + +Almost as soon as he had departed from the Sanctuary, his enemies +persuaded the weak King to send out one Sir Godfrey de Crancumb, who +commanded three hundred vagabonds called the Black Band, with orders to +seize him. They came up with him at a little town in Essex, called +Brentwood, when he was in bed. He leaped out of bed, got out of the +house, fled to the church, ran up to the altar, and laid his hand upon +the cross. Sir Godfrey and the Black Band, caring neither for church, +altar, nor cross, dragged him forth to the church door, with their +drawn swords flashing round his head, and sent for a Smith to rivet a +set of chains upon him. When the Smith (I wish I knew his name!) was +brought, all dark and swarthy with the smoke of his forge, and panting +with the speed he had made; and the Black Band, falling aside to show +him the Prisoner, cried with a loud uproar, ‘Make the fetters heavy! +make them strong!’ the Smith dropped upon his knee—but not to the Black +Band—and said, ‘This is the brave Earl Hubert de Burgh, who fought at +Dover Castle, and destroyed the French fleet, and has done his country +much good service. You may kill me, if you like, but I will never make +a chain for Earl Hubert de Burgh!’ + +The Black Band never blushed, or they might have blushed at this. They +knocked the Smith about from one to another, and swore at him, and tied +the Earl on horseback, undressed as he was, and carried him off to the +Tower of London. The Bishops, however, were so indignant at the +violation of the Sanctuary of the Church, that the frightened King soon +ordered the Black Band to take him back again; at the same time +commanding the Sheriff of Essex to prevent his escaping out of +Brentwood Church. Well! the Sheriff dug a deep trench all round the +church, and erected a high fence, and watched the church night and day; +the Black Band and their Captain watched it too, like three hundred and +one black wolves. For thirty-nine days, Hubert de Burgh remained +within. At length, upon the fortieth day, cold and hunger were too much +for him, and he gave himself up to the Black Band, who carried him off, +for the second time, to the Tower. When his trial came on, he refused +to plead; but at last it was arranged that he should give up all the +royal lands which had been bestowed upon him, and should be kept at the +Castle of Devizes, in what was called ‘free prison,’ in charge of four +knights appointed by four lords. There, he remained almost a year, +until, learning that a follower of his old enemy the Bishop was made +Keeper of the Castle, and fearing that he might be killed by treachery, +he climbed the ramparts one dark night, dropped from the top of the +high Castle wall into the moat, and coming safely to the ground, took +refuge in another church. From this place he was delivered by a party +of horse despatched to his help by some nobles, who were by this time +in revolt against the King, and assembled in Wales. He was finally +pardoned and restored to his estates, but he lived privately, and never +more aspired to a high post in the realm, or to a high place in the +King’s favour. And thus end—more happily than the stories of many +favourites of Kings—the adventures of Earl Hubert de Burgh. + +The nobles, who had risen in revolt, were stirred up to rebellion by +the overbearing conduct of the Bishop of Winchester, who, finding that +the King secretly hated the Great Charter which had been forced from +his father, did his utmost to confirm him in that dislike, and in the +preference he showed to foreigners over the English. Of this, and of +his even publicly declaring that the Barons of England were inferior to +those of France, the English Lords complained with such bitterness, +that the King, finding them well supported by the clergy, became +frightened for his throne, and sent away the Bishop and all his foreign +associates. On his marriage, however, with Eleanor, a French lady, the +daughter of the Count of Provence, he openly favoured the foreigners +again; and so many of his wife’s relations came over, and made such an +immense family-party at court, and got so many good things, and +pocketed so much money, and were so high with the English whose money +they pocketed, that the bolder English Barons murmured openly about a +clause there was in the Great Charter, which provided for the +banishment of unreasonable favourites. But, the foreigners only laughed +disdainfully, and said, ‘What are your English laws to us?’ + +King Philip of France had died, and had been succeeded by Prince Louis, +who had also died after a short reign of three years, and had been +succeeded by his son of the same name—so moderate and just a man that +he was not the least in the world like a King, as Kings went. Isabella, +King Henry’s mother, wished very much (for a certain spite she had) +that England should make war against this King; and, as King Henry was +a mere puppet in anybody’s hands who knew how to manage his feebleness, +she easily carried her point with him. But, the Parliament were +determined to give him no money for such a war. So, to defy the +Parliament, he packed up thirty large casks of silver—I don’t know how +he got so much; I dare say he screwed it out of the miserable Jews—and +put them aboard ship, and went away himself to carry war into France: +accompanied by his mother and his brother Richard, Earl of Cornwall, +who was rich and clever. But he only got well beaten, and came home. + +The good-humour of the Parliament was not restored by this. They +reproached the King with wasting the public money to make greedy +foreigners rich, and were so stern with him, and so determined not to +let him have more of it to waste if they could help it, that he was at +his wit’s end for some, and tried so shamelessly to get all he could +from his subjects, by excuses or by force, that the people used to say +the King was the sturdiest beggar in England. He took the Cross, +thinking to get some money by that means; but, as it was very well +known that he never meant to go on a crusade, he got none. In all this +contention, the Londoners were particularly keen against the King, and +the King hated them warmly in return. Hating or loving, however, made +no difference; he continued in the same condition for nine or ten +years, when at last the Barons said that if he would solemnly confirm +their liberties afresh, the Parliament would vote him a large sum. + +As he readily consented, there was a great meeting held in Westminster +Hall, one pleasant day in May, when all the clergy, dressed in their +robes and holding every one of them a burning candle in his hand, stood +up (the Barons being also there) while the Archbishop of Canterbury +read the sentence of excommunication against any man, and all men, who +should henceforth, in any way, infringe the Great Charter of the +Kingdom. When he had done, they all put out their burning candles with +a curse upon the soul of any one, and every one, who should merit that +sentence. The King concluded with an oath to keep the Charter, ‘As I am +a man, as I am a Christian, as I am a Knight, as I am a King!’ + +It was easy to make oaths, and easy to break them; and the King did +both, as his father had done before him. He took to his old courses +again when he was supplied with money, and soon cured of their weakness +the few who had ever really trusted him. When his money was gone, and +he was once more borrowing and begging everywhere with a meanness +worthy of his nature, he got into a difficulty with the Pope respecting +the Crown of Sicily, which the Pope said he had a right to give away, +and which he offered to King Henry for his second son, Prince Edmund. +But, if you or I give away what we have not got, and what belongs to +somebody else, it is likely that the person to whom we give it, will +have some trouble in taking it. It was exactly so in this case. It was +necessary to conquer the Sicilian Crown before it could be put upon +young Edmund’s head. It could not be conquered without money. The Pope +ordered the clergy to raise money. The clergy, however, were not so +obedient to him as usual; they had been disputing with him for some +time about his unjust preference of Italian Priests in England; and +they had begun to doubt whether the King’s chaplain, whom he allowed to +be paid for preaching in seven hundred churches, could possibly be, +even by the Pope’s favour, in seven hundred places at once. ‘The Pope +and the King together,’ said the Bishop of London, ‘may take the mitre +off my head; but, if they do, they will find that I shall put on a +soldier’s helmet. I pay nothing.’ The Bishop of Worcester was as bold +as the Bishop of London, and would pay nothing either. Such sums as the +more timid or more helpless of the clergy did raise were squandered +away, without doing any good to the King, or bringing the Sicilian +Crown an inch nearer to Prince Edmund’s head. The end of the business +was, that the Pope gave the Crown to the brother of the King of France +(who conquered it for himself), and sent the King of England in, a bill +of one hundred thousand pounds for the expenses of not having won it. + +The King was now so much distressed that we might almost pity him, if +it were possible to pity a King so shabby and ridiculous. His clever +brother, Richard, had bought the title of King of the Romans from the +German people, and was no longer near him, to help him with advice. The +clergy, resisting the very Pope, were in alliance with the Barons. The +Barons were headed by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, married to +King Henry’s sister, and, though a foreigner himself, the most popular +man in England against the foreign favourites. When the King next met +his Parliament, the Barons, led by this Earl, came before him, armed +from head to foot, and cased in armour. When the Parliament again +assembled, in a month’s time, at Oxford, this Earl was at their head, +and the King was obliged to consent, on oath, to what was called a +Committee of Government: consisting of twenty-four members: twelve +chosen by the Barons, and twelve chosen by himself. + +But, at a good time for him, his brother Richard came back. Richard’s +first act (the Barons would not admit him into England on other terms) +was to swear to be faithful to the Committee of Government—which he +immediately began to oppose with all his might. Then, the Barons began +to quarrel among themselves; especially the proud Earl of Gloucester +with the Earl of Leicester, who went abroad in disgust. Then, the +people began to be dissatisfied with the Barons, because they did not +do enough for them. The King’s chances seemed so good again at length, +that he took heart enough—or caught it from his brother—to tell the +Committee of Government that he abolished them—as to his oath, never +mind that, the Pope said!—and to seize all the money in the Mint, and +to shut himself up in the Tower of London. Here he was joined by his +eldest son, Prince Edward; and, from the Tower, he made public a letter +of the Pope’s to the world in general, informing all men that he had +been an excellent and just King for five-and-forty years. + +As everybody knew he had been nothing of the sort, nobody cared much +for this document. It so chanced that the proud Earl of Gloucester +dying, was succeeded by his son; and that his son, instead of being the +enemy of the Earl of Leicester, was (for the time) his friend. It fell +out, therefore, that these two Earls joined their forces, took several +of the Royal Castles in the country, and advanced as hard as they could +on London. The London people, always opposed to the King, declared for +them with great joy. The King himself remained shut up, not at all +gloriously, in the Tower. Prince Edward made the best of his way to +Windsor Castle. His mother, the Queen, attempted to follow him by +water; but, the people seeing her barge rowing up the river, and hating +her with all their hearts, ran to London Bridge, got together a +quantity of stones and mud, and pelted the barge as it came through, +crying furiously, ‘Drown the Witch! Drown her!’ They were so near doing +it, that the Mayor took the old lady under his protection, and shut her +up in St. Paul’s until the danger was past. + +It would require a great deal of writing on my part, and a great deal +of reading on yours, to follow the King through his disputes with the +Barons, and to follow the Barons through their disputes with one +another—so I will make short work of it for both of us, and only relate +the chief events that arose out of these quarrels. The good King of +France was asked to decide between them. He gave it as his opinion that +the King must maintain the Great Charter, and that the Barons must give +up the Committee of Government, and all the rest that had been done by +the Parliament at Oxford: which the Royalists, or King’s party, +scornfully called the Mad Parliament. The Barons declared that these +were not fair terms, and they would not accept them. Then they caused +the great bell of St. Paul’s to be tolled, for the purpose of rousing +up the London people, who armed themselves at the dismal sound and +formed quite an army in the streets. I am sorry to say, however, that +instead of falling upon the King’s party with whom their quarrel was, +they fell upon the miserable Jews, and killed at least five hundred of +them. They pretended that some of these Jews were on the King’s side, +and that they kept hidden in their houses, for the destruction of the +people, a certain terrible composition called Greek Fire, which could +not be put out with water, but only burnt the fiercer for it. What they +really did keep in their houses was money; and this their cruel enemies +wanted, and this their cruel enemies took, like robbers and murderers. + +The Earl of Leicester put himself at the head of these Londoners and +other forces, and followed the King to Lewes in Sussex, where he lay +encamped with his army. Before giving the King’s forces battle here, +the Earl addressed his soldiers, and said that King Henry the Third had +broken so many oaths, that he had become the enemy of God, and +therefore they would wear white crosses on their breasts, as if they +were arrayed, not against a fellow-Christian, but against a Turk. +White-crossed accordingly, they rushed into the fight. They would have +lost the day—the King having on his side all the foreigners in England: +and, from Scotland, John Comyn, John Baliol, and Robert Bruce, with all +their men—but for the impatience of Prince Edward, who, in his hot +desire to have vengeance on the people of London, threw the whole of +his father’s army into confusion. He was taken Prisoner; so was the +King; so was the King’s brother the King of the Romans; and five +thousand Englishmen were left dead upon the bloody grass. + +For this success, the Pope excommunicated the Earl of Leicester: which +neither the Earl nor the people cared at all about. The people loved +him and supported him, and he became the real King; having all the +power of the government in his own hands, though he was outwardly +respectful to King Henry the Third, whom he took with him wherever he +went, like a poor old limp court-card. He summoned a Parliament (in the +year one thousand two hundred and sixty-five) which was the first +Parliament in England that the people had any real share in electing; +and he grew more and more in favour with the people every day, and they +stood by him in whatever he did. + +Many of the other Barons, and particularly the Earl of Gloucester, who +had become by this time as proud as his father, grew jealous of this +powerful and popular Earl, who was proud too, and began to conspire +against him. Since the battle of Lewes, Prince Edward had been kept as +a hostage, and, though he was otherwise treated like a Prince, had +never been allowed to go out without attendants appointed by the Earl +of Leicester, who watched him. The conspiring Lords found means to +propose to him, in secret, that they should assist him to escape, and +should make him their leader; to which he very heartily consented. + +So, on a day that was agreed upon, he said to his attendants after +dinner (being then at Hereford), ‘I should like to ride on horseback, +this fine afternoon, a little way into the country.’ As they, too, +thought it would be very pleasant to have a canter in the sunshine, +they all rode out of the town together in a gay little troop. When they +came to a fine level piece of turf, the Prince fell to comparing their +horses one with another, and offering bets that one was faster than +another; and the attendants, suspecting no harm, rode galloping matches +until their horses were quite tired. The Prince rode no matches +himself, but looked on from his saddle, and staked his money. Thus they +passed the whole merry afternoon. Now, the sun was setting, and they +were all going slowly up a hill, the Prince’s horse very fresh and all +the other horses very weary, when a strange rider mounted on a grey +steed appeared at the top of the hill, and waved his hat. ‘What does +the fellow mean?’ said the attendants one to another. The Prince +answered on the instant by setting spurs to his horse, dashing away at +his utmost speed, joining the man, riding into the midst of a little +crowd of horsemen who were then seen waiting under some trees, and who +closed around him; and so he departed in a cloud of dust, leaving the +road empty of all but the baffled attendants, who sat looking at one +another, while their horses drooped their ears and panted. + +The Prince joined the Earl of Gloucester at Ludlow. The Earl of +Leicester, with a part of the army and the stupid old King, was at +Hereford. One of the Earl of Leicester’s sons, Simon de Montfort, with +another part of the army, was in Sussex. To prevent these two parts +from uniting was the Prince’s first object. He attacked Simon de +Montfort by night, defeated him, seized his banners and treasure, and +forced him into Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, which belonged to +his family. + +His father, the Earl of Leicester, in the meanwhile, not knowing what +had happened, marched out of Hereford, with his part of the army and +the King, to meet him. He came, on a bright morning in August, to +Evesham, which is watered by the pleasant river Avon. Looking rather +anxiously across the prospect towards Kenilworth, he saw his own +banners advancing; and his face brightened with joy. But, it clouded +darkly when he presently perceived that the banners were captured, and +in the enemy’s hands; and he said, ‘It is over. The Lord have mercy on +our souls, for our bodies are Prince Edward’s!’ + +He fought like a true Knight, nevertheless. When his horse was killed +under him, he fought on foot. It was a fierce battle, and the dead lay +in heaps everywhere. The old King, stuck up in a suit of armour on a +big war-horse, which didn’t mind him at all, and which carried him into +all sorts of places where he didn’t want to go, got into everybody’s +way, and very nearly got knocked on the head by one of his son’s men. +But he managed to pipe out, ‘I am Harry of Winchester!’ and the Prince, +who heard him, seized his bridle, and took him out of peril. The Earl +of Leicester still fought bravely, until his best son Henry was killed, +and the bodies of his best friends choked his path; and then he fell, +still fighting, sword in hand. They mangled his body, and sent it as a +present to a noble lady—but a very unpleasant lady, I should think—who +was the wife of his worst enemy. They could not mangle his memory in +the minds of the faithful people, though. Many years afterwards, they +loved him more than ever, and regarded him as a Saint, and always spoke +of him as ‘Sir Simon the Righteous.’ + +And even though he was dead, the cause for which he had fought still +lived, and was strong, and forced itself upon the King in the very hour +of victory. Henry found himself obliged to respect the Great Charter, +however much he hated it, and to make laws similar to the laws of the +Great Earl of Leicester, and to be moderate and forgiving towards the +people at last—even towards the people of London, who had so long +opposed him. There were more risings before all this was done, but they +were set at rest by these means, and Prince Edward did his best in all +things to restore peace. One Sir Adam de Gourdon was the last +dissatisfied knight in arms; but, the Prince vanquished him in single +combat, in a wood, and nobly gave him his life, and became his friend, +instead of slaying him. Sir Adam was not ungrateful. He ever afterwards +remained devoted to his generous conqueror. + +When the troubles of the Kingdom were thus calmed, Prince Edward and +his cousin Henry took the Cross, and went away to the Holy Land, with +many English Lords and Knights. Four years afterwards the King of the +Romans died, and, next year (one thousand two hundred and seventy-two), +his brother the weak King of England died. He was sixty-eight years old +then, and had reigned fifty-six years. He was as much of a King in +death, as he had ever been in life. He was the mere pale shadow of a +King at all times. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIRST, CALLED LONGSHANKS + + +It was now the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and +seventy-two; and Prince Edward, the heir to the throne, being away in +the Holy Land, knew nothing of his father’s death. The Barons, however, +proclaimed him King, immediately after the Royal funeral; and the +people very willingly consented, since most men knew too well by this +time what the horrors of a contest for the crown were. So King Edward +the First, called, in a not very complimentary manner, Longshanks, +because of the slenderness of his legs, was peacefully accepted by the +English Nation. + +His legs had need to be strong, however long and thin they were; for +they had to support him through many difficulties on the fiery sands of +Asia, where his small force of soldiers fainted, died, deserted, and +seemed to melt away. But his prowess made light of it, and he said, ‘I +will go on, if I go on with no other follower than my groom!’ + +A Prince of this spirit gave the Turks a deal of trouble. He stormed +Nazareth, at which place, of all places on earth, I am sorry to relate, +he made a frightful slaughter of innocent people; and then he went to +Acre, where he got a truce of ten years from the Sultan. He had very +nearly lost his life in Acre, through the treachery of a Saracen Noble, +called the Emir of Jaffa, who, making the pretence that he had some +idea of turning Christian and wanted to know all about that religion, +sent a trusty messenger to Edward very often—with a dagger in his +sleeve. At last, one Friday in Whitsun week, when it was very hot, and +all the sandy prospect lay beneath the blazing sun, burnt up like a +great overdone biscuit, and Edward was lying on a couch, dressed for +coolness in only a loose robe, the messenger, with his +chocolate-coloured face and his bright dark eyes and white teeth, came +creeping in with a letter, and kneeled down like a tame tiger. But, the +moment Edward stretched out his hand to take the letter, the tiger made +a spring at his heart. He was quick, but Edward was quick too. He +seized the traitor by his chocolate throat, threw him to the ground, +and slew him with the very dagger he had drawn. The weapon had struck +Edward in the arm, and although the wound itself was slight, it +threatened to be mortal, for the blade of the dagger had been smeared +with poison. Thanks, however, to a better surgeon than was often to be +found in those times, and to some wholesome herbs, and above all, to +his faithful wife, Eleanor, who devotedly nursed him, and is said by +some to have sucked the poison from the wound with her own red lips +(which I am very willing to believe), Edward soon recovered and was +sound again. + +As the King his father had sent entreaties to him to return home, he +now began the journey. He had got as far as Italy, when he met +messengers who brought him intelligence of the King’s death. Hearing +that all was quiet at home, he made no haste to return to his own +dominions, but paid a visit to the Pope, and went in state through +various Italian Towns, where he was welcomed with acclamations as a +mighty champion of the Cross from the Holy Land, and where he received +presents of purple mantles and prancing horses, and went along in great +triumph. The shouting people little knew that he was the last English +monarch who would ever embark in a crusade, or that within twenty years +every conquest which the Christians had made in the Holy Land at the +cost of so much blood, would be won back by the Turks. But all this +came to pass. + +There was, and there is, an old town standing in a plain in France, +called Châlons. When the King was coming towards this place on his way +to England, a wily French Lord, called the Count of Châlons, sent him a +polite challenge to come with his knights and hold a fair tournament +with the Count and _his_ knights, and make a day of it with sword and +lance. It was represented to the King that the Count of Châlons was not +to be trusted, and that, instead of a holiday fight for mere show and +in good humour, he secretly meant a real battle, in which the English +should be defeated by superior force. + +The King, however, nothing afraid, went to the appointed place on the +appointed day with a thousand followers. When the Count came with two +thousand and attacked the English in earnest, the English rushed at +them with such valour that the Count’s men and the Count’s horses soon +began to be tumbled down all over the field. The Count himself seized +the King round the neck, but the King tumbled _him_ out of his saddle +in return for the compliment, and, jumping from his own horse, and +standing over him, beat away at his iron armour like a blacksmith +hammering on his anvil. Even when the Count owned himself defeated and +offered his sword, the King would not do him the honour to take it, but +made him yield it up to a common soldier. There had been such fury +shown in this fight, that it was afterwards called the little Battle of +Châlons. + +The English were very well disposed to be proud of their King after +these adventures; so, when he landed at Dover in the year one thousand +two hundred and seventy-four (being then thirty-six years old), and +went on to Westminster where he and his good Queen were crowned with +great magnificence, splendid rejoicings took place. For the +coronation-feast there were provided, among other eatables, four +hundred oxen, four hundred sheep, four hundred and fifty pigs, eighteen +wild boars, three hundred flitches of bacon, and twenty thousand fowls. +The fountains and conduits in the street flowed with red and white wine +instead of water; the rich citizens hung silks and cloths of the +brightest colours out of their windows to increase the beauty of the +show, and threw out gold and silver by whole handfuls to make scrambles +for the crowd. In short, there was such eating and drinking, such music +and capering, such a ringing of bells and tossing of caps, such a +shouting, and singing, and revelling, as the narrow overhanging streets +of old London City had not witnessed for many a long day. All the +people were merry except the poor Jews, who, trembling within their +houses, and scarcely daring to peep out, began to foresee that they +would have to find the money for this joviality sooner or later. + +To dismiss this sad subject of the Jews for the present, I am sorry to +add that in this reign they were most unmercifully pillaged. They were +hanged in great numbers, on accusations of having clipped the King’s +coin—which all kinds of people had done. They were heavily taxed; they +were disgracefully badged; they were, on one day, thirteen years after +the coronation, taken up with their wives and children and thrown into +beastly prisons, until they purchased their release by paying to the +King twelve thousand pounds. Finally, every kind of property belonging +to them was seized by the King, except so little as would defray the +charge of their taking themselves away into foreign countries. Many +years elapsed before the hope of gain induced any of their race to +return to England, where they had been treated so heartlessly and had +suffered so much. + +If King Edward the First had been as bad a king to Christians as he was +to Jews, he would have been bad indeed. But he was, in general, a wise +and great monarch, under whom the country much improved. He had no love +for the Great Charter—few Kings had, through many, many years—but he +had high qualities. The first bold object which he conceived when he +came home, was, to unite under one Sovereign England, Scotland, and +Wales; the two last of which countries had each a little king of its +own, about whom the people were always quarrelling and fighting, and +making a prodigious disturbance—a great deal more than he was worth. In +the course of King Edward’s reign he was engaged, besides, in a war +with France. To make these quarrels clearer, we will separate their +histories and take them thus. Wales, first. France, second. Scotland, +third. + + +Llewellyn was the Prince of Wales. He had been on the side of the +Barons in the reign of the stupid old King, but had afterwards sworn +allegiance to him. When King Edward came to the throne, Llewellyn was +required to swear allegiance to him also; which he refused to do. The +King, being crowned and in his own dominions, three times more required +Llewellyn to come and do homage; and three times more Llewellyn said he +would rather not. He was going to be married to Eleanor de Montfort, a +young lady of the family mentioned in the last reign; and it chanced +that this young lady, coming from France with her youngest brother, +Emeric, was taken by an English ship, and was ordered by the English +King to be detained. Upon this, the quarrel came to a head. The King +went, with his fleet, to the coast of Wales, where, so encompassing +Llewellyn, that he could only take refuge in the bleak mountain region +of Snowdon in which no provisions could reach him, he was soon starved +into an apology, and into a treaty of peace, and into paying the +expenses of the war. The King, however, forgave him some of the hardest +conditions of the treaty, and consented to his marriage. And he now +thought he had reduced Wales to obedience. + +But the Welsh, although they were naturally a gentle, quiet, pleasant +people, who liked to receive strangers in their cottages among the +mountains, and to set before them with free hospitality whatever they +had to eat and drink, and to play to them on their harps, and sing +their native ballads to them, were a people of great spirit when their +blood was up. Englishmen, after this affair, began to be insolent in +Wales, and to assume the air of masters; and the Welsh pride could not +bear it. Moreover, they believed in that unlucky old Merlin, some of +whose unlucky old prophecies somebody always seemed doomed to remember +when there was a chance of its doing harm; and just at this time some +blind old gentleman with a harp and a long white beard, who was an +excellent person, but had become of an unknown age and tedious, burst +out with a declaration that Merlin had predicted that when English +money had become round, a Prince of Wales would be crowned in London. +Now, King Edward had recently forbidden the English penny to be cut +into halves and quarters for halfpence and farthings, and had actually +introduced a round coin; therefore, the Welsh people said this was the +time Merlin meant, and rose accordingly. + +King Edward had bought over Prince David, Llewellyn’s brother, by +heaping favours upon him; but he was the first to revolt, being perhaps +troubled in his conscience. One stormy night, he surprised the Castle +of Hawarden, in possession of which an English nobleman had been left; +killed the whole garrison, and carried off the nobleman a prisoner to +Snowdon. Upon this, the Welsh people rose like one man. King Edward, +with his army, marching from Worcester to the Menai Strait, crossed +it—near to where the wonderful tubular iron bridge now, in days so +different, makes a passage for railway trains—by a bridge of boats that +enabled forty men to march abreast. He subdued the Island of Anglesea, +and sent his men forward to observe the enemy. The sudden appearance of +the Welsh created a panic among them, and they fell back to the bridge. +The tide had in the meantime risen and separated the boats; the Welsh +pursuing them, they were driven into the sea, and there they sunk, in +their heavy iron armour, by thousands. After this victory Llewellyn, +helped by the severe winter-weather of Wales, gained another battle; +but the King ordering a portion of his English army to advance through +South Wales, and catch him between two foes, and Llewellyn bravely +turning to meet this new enemy, he was surprised and killed—very +meanly, for he was unarmed and defenceless. His head was struck off and +sent to London, where it was fixed upon the Tower, encircled with a +wreath, some say of ivy, some say of willow, some say of silver, to +make it look like a ghastly coin in ridicule of the prediction. + +David, however, still held out for six months, though eagerly sought +after by the King, and hunted by his own countrymen. One of them +finally betrayed him with his wife and children. He was sentenced to be +hanged, drawn, and quartered; and from that time this became the +established punishment of Traitors in England—a punishment wholly +without excuse, as being revolting, vile, and cruel, after its object +is dead; and which has no sense in it, as its only real degradation +(and that nothing can blot out) is to the country that permits on any +consideration such abominable barbarity. + +Wales was now subdued. The Queen giving birth to a young prince in the +Castle of Carnarvon, the King showed him to the Welsh people as their +countryman, and called him Prince of Wales; a title that has ever since +been borne by the heir-apparent to the English throne—which that little +Prince soon became, by the death of his elder brother. The King did +better things for the Welsh than that, by improving their laws and +encouraging their trade. Disturbances still took place, chiefly +occasioned by the avarice and pride of the English Lords, on whom Welsh +lands and castles had been bestowed; but they were subdued, and the +country never rose again. There is a legend that to prevent the people +from being incited to rebellion by the songs of their bards and +harpers, Edward had them all put to death. Some of them may have fallen +among other men who held out against the King; but this general +slaughter is, I think, a fancy of the harpers themselves, who, I dare +say, made a song about it many years afterwards, and sang it by the +Welsh firesides until it came to be believed. + +The foreign war of the reign of Edward the First arose in this way. The +crews of two vessels, one a Norman ship, and the other an English ship, +happened to go to the same place in their boats to fill their casks +with fresh water. Being rough angry fellows, they began to quarrel, and +then to fight—the English with their fists; the Normans with their +knives—and, in the fight, a Norman was killed. The Norman crew, instead +of revenging themselves upon those English sailors with whom they had +quarrelled (who were too strong for them, I suspect), took to their +ship again in a great rage, attacked the first English ship they met, +laid hold of an unoffending merchant who happened to be on board, and +brutally hanged him in the rigging of their own vessel with a dog at +his feet. This so enraged the English sailors that there was no +restraining them; and whenever, and wherever, English sailors met +Norman sailors, they fell upon each other tooth and nail. The Irish and +Dutch sailors took part with the English; the French and Genoese +sailors helped the Normans; and thus the greater part of the mariners +sailing over the sea became, in their way, as violent and raging as the +sea itself when it is disturbed. + +King Edward’s fame had been so high abroad that he had been chosen to +decide a difference between France and another foreign power, and had +lived upon the Continent three years. At first, neither he nor the +French King Philip (the good Louis had been dead some time) interfered +in these quarrels; but when a fleet of eighty English ships engaged and +utterly defeated a Norman fleet of two hundred, in a pitched battle +fought round a ship at anchor, in which no quarter was given, the +matter became too serious to be passed over. King Edward, as Duke of +Guienne, was summoned to present himself before the King of France, at +Paris, and answer for the damage done by his sailor subjects. At first, +he sent the Bishop of London as his representative, and then his +brother Edmund, who was married to the French Queen’s mother. I am +afraid Edmund was an easy man, and allowed himself to be talked over by +his charming relations, the French court ladies; at all events, he was +induced to give up his brother’s dukedom for forty days—as a mere form, +the French King said, to satisfy his honour—and he was so very much +astonished, when the time was out, to find that the French King had no +idea of giving it up again, that I should not wonder if it hastened his +death: which soon took place. + +King Edward was a King to win his foreign dukedom back again, if it +could be won by energy and valour. He raised a large army, renounced +his allegiance as Duke of Guienne, and crossed the sea to carry war +into France. Before any important battle was fought, however, a truce +was agreed upon for two years; and in the course of that time, the Pope +effected a reconciliation. King Edward, who was now a widower, having +lost his affectionate and good wife, Eleanor, married the French King’s +sister, Margaret; and the Prince of Wales was contracted to the French +King’s daughter Isabella. + +Out of bad things, good things sometimes arise. Out of this hanging of +the innocent merchant, and the bloodshed and strife it caused, there +came to be established one of the greatest powers that the English +people now possess. The preparations for the war being very expensive, +and King Edward greatly wanting money, and being very arbitrary in his +ways of raising it, some of the Barons began firmly to oppose him. Two +of them, in particular, Humphrey Bohun, Earl of Hereford, and Roger +Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, were so stout against him, that they maintained +he had no right to command them to head his forces in Guienne, and +flatly refused to go there. ‘By Heaven, Sir Earl,’ said the King to the +Earl of Hereford, in a great passion, ‘you shall either go or be +hanged!’ ‘By Heaven, Sir King,’ replied the Earl, ‘I will neither go +nor yet will I be hanged!’ and both he and the other Earl sturdily left +the court, attended by many Lords. The King tried every means of +raising money. He taxed the clergy, in spite of all the Pope said to +the contrary; and when they refused to pay, reduced them to submission, +by saying Very well, then they had no claim upon the government for +protection, and any man might plunder them who would—which a good many +men were very ready to do, and very readily did, and which the clergy +found too losing a game to be played at long. He seized all the wool +and leather in the hands of the merchants, promising to pay for it some +fine day; and he set a tax upon the exportation of wool, which was so +unpopular among the traders that it was called ‘The evil toll.’ But all +would not do. The Barons, led by those two great Earls, declared any +taxes imposed without the consent of Parliament, unlawful; and the +Parliament refused to impose taxes, until the King should confirm +afresh the two Great Charters, and should solemnly declare in writing, +that there was no power in the country to raise money from the people, +evermore, but the power of Parliament representing all ranks of the +people. The King was very unwilling to diminish his own power by +allowing this great privilege in the Parliament; but there was no help +for it, and he at last complied. We shall come to another King +by-and-by, who might have saved his head from rolling off, if he had +profited by this example. + +The people gained other benefits in Parliament from the good sense and +wisdom of this King. Many of the laws were much improved; provision was +made for the greater safety of travellers, and the apprehension of +thieves and murderers; the priests were prevented from holding too much +land, and so becoming too powerful; and Justices of the Peace were +first appointed (though not at first under that name) in various parts +of the country. + + +And now we come to Scotland, which was the great and lasting trouble of +the reign of King Edward the First. + +About thirteen years after King Edward’s coronation, Alexander the +Third, the King of Scotland, died of a fall from his horse. He had been +married to Margaret, King Edward’s sister. All their children being +dead, the Scottish crown became the right of a young Princess only +eight years old, the daughter of Eric, King of Norway, who had married +a daughter of the deceased sovereign. King Edward proposed, that the +Maiden of Norway, as this Princess was called, should be engaged to be +married to his eldest son; but, unfortunately, as she was coming over +to England she fell sick, and landing on one of the Orkney Islands, +died there. A great commotion immediately began in Scotland, where as +many as thirteen noisy claimants to the vacant throne started up and +made a general confusion. + +King Edward being much renowned for his sagacity and justice, it seems +to have been agreed to refer the dispute to him. He accepted the trust, +and went, with an army, to the Border-land where England and Scotland +joined. There, he called upon the Scottish gentlemen to meet him at the +Castle of Norham, on the English side of the river Tweed; and to that +Castle they came. But, before he would take any step in the business, +he required those Scottish gentlemen, one and all, to do homage to him +as their superior Lord; and when they hesitated, he said, ‘By holy +Edward, whose crown I wear, I will have my rights, or I will die in +maintaining them!’ The Scottish gentlemen, who had not expected this, +were disconcerted, and asked for three weeks to think about it. + +At the end of the three weeks, another meeting took place, on a green +plain on the Scottish side of the river. Of all the competitors for the +Scottish throne, there were only two who had any real claim, in right +of their near kindred to the Royal Family. These were John Baliol and +Robert Bruce: and the right was, I have no doubt, on the side of John +Baliol. At this particular meeting John Baliol was not present, but +Robert Bruce was; and on Robert Bruce being formally asked whether he +acknowledged the King of England for his superior lord, he answered, +plainly and distinctly, Yes, he did. Next day, John Baliol appeared, +and said the same. This point settled, some arrangements were made for +inquiring into their titles. + +The inquiry occupied a pretty long time—more than a year. While it was +going on, King Edward took the opportunity of making a journey through +Scotland, and calling upon the Scottish people of all degrees to +acknowledge themselves his vassals, or be imprisoned until they did. In +the meanwhile, Commissioners were appointed to conduct the inquiry, a +Parliament was held at Berwick about it, the two claimants were heard +at full length, and there was a vast amount of talking. At last, in the +great hall of the Castle of Berwick, the King gave judgment in favour +of John Baliol: who, consenting to receive his crown by the King of +England’s favour and permission, was crowned at Scone, in an old stone +chair which had been used for ages in the abbey there, at the +coronations of Scottish Kings. Then, King Edward caused the great seal +of Scotland, used since the late King’s death, to be broken in four +pieces, and placed in the English Treasury; and considered that he now +had Scotland (according to the common saying) under his thumb. + +Scotland had a strong will of its own yet, however. King Edward, +determined that the Scottish King should not forget he was his vassal, +summoned him repeatedly to come and defend himself and his judges +before the English Parliament when appeals from the decisions of +Scottish courts of justice were being heard. At length, John Baliol, +who had no great heart of his own, had so much heart put into him by +the brave spirit of the Scottish people, who took this as a national +insult, that he refused to come any more. Thereupon, the King further +required him to help him in his war abroad (which was then in +progress), and to give up, as security for his good behaviour in +future, the three strong Scottish Castles of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and +Berwick. Nothing of this being done; on the contrary, the Scottish +people concealing their King among their mountains in the Highlands and +showing a determination to resist; Edward marched to Berwick with an +army of thirty thousand foot, and four thousand horse; took the Castle, +and slew its whole garrison, and the inhabitants of the town as +well—men, women, and children. Lord Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, then went +on to the Castle of Dunbar, before which a battle was fought, and the +whole Scottish army defeated with great slaughter. The victory being +complete, the Earl of Surrey was left as guardian of Scotland; the +principal offices in that kingdom were given to Englishmen; the more +powerful Scottish Nobles were obliged to come and live in England; the +Scottish crown and sceptre were brought away; and even the old stone +chair was carried off and placed in Westminster Abbey, where you may +see it now. Baliol had the Tower of London lent him for a residence, +with permission to range about within a circle of twenty miles. Three +years afterwards he was allowed to go to Normandy, where he had +estates, and where he passed the remaining six years of his life: far +more happily, I dare say, than he had lived for a long while in angry +Scotland. + +Now, there was, in the West of Scotland, a gentleman of small fortune, +named William Wallace, the second son of a Scottish knight. He was a +man of great size and great strength; he was very brave and daring; +when he spoke to a body of his countrymen, he could rouse them in a +wonderful manner by the power of his burning words; he loved Scotland +dearly, and he hated England with his utmost might. The domineering +conduct of the English who now held the places of trust in Scotland +made them as intolerable to the proud Scottish people as they had been, +under similar circumstances, to the Welsh; and no man in all Scotland +regarded them with so much smothered rage as William Wallace. One day, +an Englishman in office, little knowing what he was, affronted _him_. +Wallace instantly struck him dead, and taking refuge among the rocks +and hills, and there joining with his countryman, Sir William Douglas, +who was also in arms against King Edward, became the most resolute and +undaunted champion of a people struggling for their independence that +ever lived upon the earth. + +The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled before him, and, thus +encouraged, the Scottish people revolted everywhere, and fell upon the +English without mercy. The Earl of Surrey, by the King’s commands, +raised all the power of the Border-counties, and two English armies +poured into Scotland. Only one Chief, in the face of those armies, +stood by Wallace, who, with a force of forty thousand men, awaited the +invaders at a place on the river Forth, within two miles of Stirling. +Across the river there was only one poor wooden bridge, called the +bridge of Kildean—so narrow, that but two men could cross it abreast. +With his eyes upon this bridge, Wallace posted the greater part of his +men among some rising grounds, and waited calmly. When the English army +came up on the opposite bank of the river, messengers were sent forward +to offer terms. Wallace sent them back with a defiance, in the name of +the freedom of Scotland. Some of the officers of the Earl of Surrey in +command of the English, with _their_ eyes also on the bridge, advised +him to be discreet and not hasty. He, however, urged to immediate +battle by some other officers, and particularly by Cressingham, King +Edward’s treasurer, and a rash man, gave the word of command to +advance. One thousand English crossed the bridge, two abreast; the +Scottish troops were as motionless as stone images. Two thousand +English crossed; three thousand, four thousand, five. Not a feather, +all this time, had been seen to stir among the Scottish bonnets. Now, +they all fluttered. ‘Forward, one party, to the foot of the Bridge!’ +cried Wallace, ‘and let no more English cross! The rest, down with me +on the five thousand who have come over, and cut them all to pieces!’ +It was done, in the sight of the whole remainder of the English army, +who could give no help. Cressingham himself was killed, and the Scotch +made whips for their horses of his skin. + +King Edward was abroad at this time, and during the successes on the +Scottish side which followed, and which enabled bold Wallace to win the +whole country back again, and even to ravage the English borders. But, +after a few winter months, the King returned, and took the field with +more than his usual energy. One night, when a kick from his horse as +they both lay on the ground together broke two of his ribs, and a cry +arose that he was killed, he leaped into his saddle, regardless of the +pain he suffered, and rode through the camp. Day then appearing, he +gave the word (still, of course, in that bruised and aching state) +Forward! and led his army on to near Falkirk, where the Scottish forces +were seen drawn up on some stony ground, behind a morass. Here, he +defeated Wallace, and killed fifteen thousand of his men. With the +shattered remainder, Wallace drew back to Stirling; but, being pursued, +set fire to the town that it might give no help to the English, and +escaped. The inhabitants of Perth afterwards set fire to their houses +for the same reason, and the King, unable to find provisions, was +forced to withdraw his army. + +Another Robert Bruce, the grandson of him who had disputed the Scottish +crown with Baliol, was now in arms against the King (that elder Bruce +being dead), and also John Comyn, Baliol’s nephew. These two young men +might agree in opposing Edward, but could agree in nothing else, as +they were rivals for the throne of Scotland. Probably it was because +they knew this, and knew what troubles must arise even if they could +hope to get the better of the great English King, that the principal +Scottish people applied to the Pope for his interference. The Pope, on +the principle of losing nothing for want of trying to get it, very +coolly claimed that Scotland belonged to him; but this was a little too +much, and the Parliament in a friendly manner told him so. + +In the spring time of the year one thousand three hundred and three, +the King sent Sir John Segrave, whom he made Governor of Scotland, with +twenty thousand men, to reduce the rebels. Sir John was not as careful +as he should have been, but encamped at Rosslyn, near Edinburgh, with +his army divided into three parts. The Scottish forces saw their +advantage; fell on each part separately; defeated each; and killed all +the prisoners. Then, came the King himself once more, as soon as a +great army could be raised; he passed through the whole north of +Scotland, laying waste whatsoever came in his way; and he took up his +winter quarters at Dunfermline. The Scottish cause now looked so +hopeless, that Comyn and the other nobles made submission and received +their pardons. Wallace alone stood out. He was invited to surrender, +though on no distinct pledge that his life should be spared; but he +still defied the ireful King, and lived among the steep crags of the +Highland glens, where the eagles made their nests, and where the +mountain torrents roared, and the white snow was deep, and the bitter +winds blew round his unsheltered head, as he lay through many a +pitch-dark night wrapped up in his plaid. Nothing could break his +spirit; nothing could lower his courage; nothing could induce him to +forget or to forgive his country’s wrongs. Even when the Castle of +Stirling, which had long held out, was besieged by the King with every +kind of military engine then in use; even when the lead upon cathedral +roofs was taken down to help to make them; even when the King, though +an old man, commanded in the siege as if he were a youth, being so +resolved to conquer; even when the brave garrison (then found with +amazement to be not two hundred people, including several ladies) were +starved and beaten out and were made to submit on their knees, and with +every form of disgrace that could aggravate their sufferings; even +then, when there was not a ray of hope in Scotland, William Wallace was +as proud and firm as if he had beheld the powerful and relentless +Edward lying dead at his feet. + +Who betrayed William Wallace in the end, is not quite certain. That he +was betrayed—probably by an attendant—is too true. He was taken to the +Castle of Dumbarton, under Sir John Menteith, and thence to London, +where the great fame of his bravery and resolution attracted immense +concourses of people to behold him. He was tried in Westminster Hall, +with a crown of laurel on his head—it is supposed because he was +reported to have said that he ought to wear, or that he would wear, a +crown there and was found guilty as a robber, a murderer, and a +traitor. What they called a robber (he said to those who tried him) he +was, because he had taken spoil from the King’s men. What they called a +murderer, he was, because he had slain an insolent Englishman. What +they called a traitor, he was not, for he had never sworn allegiance to +the King, and had ever scorned to do it. He was dragged at the tails of +horses to West Smithfield, and there hanged on a high gallows, torn +open before he was dead, beheaded, and quartered. His head was set upon +a pole on London Bridge, his right arm was sent to Newcastle, his left +arm to Berwick, his legs to Perth and Aberdeen. But, if King Edward had +had his body cut into inches, and had sent every separate inch into a +separate town, he could not have dispersed it half so far and wide as +his fame. Wallace will be remembered in songs and stories, while there +are songs and stories in the English tongue, and Scotland will hold him +dear while her lakes and mountains last. + +Released from this dreaded enemy, the King made a fairer plan of +Government for Scotland, divided the offices of honour among Scottish +gentlemen and English gentlemen, forgave past offences, and thought, in +his old age, that his work was done. + +But he deceived himself. Comyn and Bruce conspired, and made an +appointment to meet at Dumfries, in the church of the Minorites. There +is a story that Comyn was false to Bruce, and had informed against him +to the King; that Bruce was warned of his danger and the necessity of +flight, by receiving, one night as he sat at supper, from his friend +the Earl of Gloucester, twelve pennies and a pair of spurs; that as he +was riding angrily to keep his appointment (through a snow-storm, with +his horse’s shoes reversed that he might not be tracked), he met an +evil-looking serving man, a messenger of Comyn, whom he killed, and +concealed in whose dress he found letters that proved Comyn’s +treachery. However this may be, they were likely enough to quarrel in +any case, being hot-headed rivals; and, whatever they quarrelled about, +they certainly did quarrel in the church where they met, and Bruce drew +his dagger and stabbed Comyn, who fell upon the pavement. When Bruce +came out, pale and disturbed, the friends who were waiting for him +asked what was the matter? ‘I think I have killed Comyn,’ said he. ‘You +only think so?’ returned one of them; ‘I will make sure!’ and going +into the church, and finding him alive, stabbed him again and again. +Knowing that the King would never forgive this new deed of violence, +the party then declared Bruce King of Scotland: got him crowned at +Scone—without the chair; and set up the rebellious standard once again. + +When the King heard of it he kindled with fiercer anger than he had +ever shown yet. He caused the Prince of Wales and two hundred and +seventy of the young nobility to be knighted—the trees in the Temple +Gardens were cut down to make room for their tents, and they watched +their armour all night, according to the old usage: some in the Temple +Church: some in Westminster Abbey—and at the public Feast which then +took place, he swore, by Heaven, and by two swans covered with gold +network which his minstrels placed upon the table, that he would avenge +the death of Comyn, and would punish the false Bruce. And before all +the company, he charged the Prince his son, in case that he should die +before accomplishing his vow, not to bury him until it was fulfilled. +Next morning the Prince and the rest of the young Knights rode away to +the Border-country to join the English army; and the King, now weak and +sick, followed in a horse-litter. + +Bruce, after losing a battle and undergoing many dangers and much +misery, fled to Ireland, where he lay concealed through the winter. +That winter, Edward passed in hunting down and executing Bruce’s +relations and adherents, sparing neither youth nor age, and showing no +touch of pity or sign of mercy. In the following spring, Bruce +reappeared and gained some victories. In these frays, both sides were +grievously cruel. For instance—Bruce’s two brothers, being taken +captives desperately wounded, were ordered by the King to instant +execution. Bruce’s friend Sir John Douglas, taking his own Castle of +Douglas out of the hands of an English Lord, roasted the dead bodies of +the slaughtered garrison in a great fire made of every movable within +it; which dreadful cookery his men called the Douglas Larder. Bruce, +still successful, however, drove the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of +Gloucester into the Castle of Ayr and laid siege to it. + +The King, who had been laid up all the winter, but had directed the +army from his sick-bed, now advanced to Carlisle, and there, causing +the litter in which he had travelled to be placed in the Cathedral as +an offering to Heaven, mounted his horse once more, and for the last +time. He was now sixty-nine years old, and had reigned thirty-five +years. He was so ill, that in four days he could go no more than six +miles; still, even at that pace, he went on and resolutely kept his +face towards the Border. At length, he lay down at the village of +Burgh-upon-Sands; and there, telling those around him to impress upon +the Prince that he was to remember his father’s vow, and was never to +rest until he had thoroughly subdued Scotland, he yielded up his last +breath. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SECOND + + +King Edward the Second, the first Prince of Wales, was twenty-three +years old when his father died. There was a certain favourite of his, a +young man from Gascony, named Piers Gaveston, of whom his father had so +much disapproved that he had ordered him out of England, and had made +his son swear by the side of his sick-bed, never to bring him back. +But, the Prince no sooner found himself King, than he broke his oath, +as so many other Princes and Kings did (they were far too ready to take +oaths), and sent for his dear friend immediately. + +Now, this same Gaveston was handsome enough, but was a reckless, +insolent, audacious fellow. He was detested by the proud English Lords: +not only because he had such power over the King, and made the Court +such a dissipated place, but, also, because he could ride better than +they at tournaments, and was used, in his impudence, to cut very bad +jokes on them; calling one, the old hog; another, the stage-player; +another, the Jew; another, the black dog of Ardenne. This was as poor +wit as need be, but it made those Lords very wroth; and the surly Earl +of Warwick, who was the black dog, swore that the time should come when +Piers Gaveston should feel the black dog’s teeth. + +It was not come yet, however, nor did it seem to be coming. The King +made him Earl of Cornwall, and gave him vast riches; and, when the King +went over to France to marry the French Princess, Isabella, daughter of +Philip le Bel: who was said to be the most beautiful woman in the +world: he made Gaveston, Regent of the Kingdom. His splendid +marriage-ceremony in the Church of Our Lady at Boulogne, where there +were four Kings and three Queens present (quite a pack of Court Cards, +for I dare say the Knaves were not wanting), being over, he seemed to +care little or nothing for his beautiful wife; but was wild with +impatience to meet Gaveston again. + +When he landed at home, he paid no attention to anybody else, but ran +into the favourite’s arms before a great concourse of people, and +hugged him, and kissed him, and called him his brother. At the +coronation which soon followed, Gaveston was the richest and brightest +of all the glittering company there, and had the honour of carrying the +crown. This made the proud Lords fiercer than ever; the people, too, +despised the favourite, and would never call him Earl of Cornwall, +however much he complained to the King and asked him to punish them for +not doing so, but persisted in styling him plain Piers Gaveston. + +The Barons were so unceremonious with the King in giving him to +understand that they would not bear this favourite, that the King was +obliged to send him out of the country. The favourite himself was made +to take an oath (more oaths!) that he would never come back, and the +Barons supposed him to be banished in disgrace, until they heard that +he was appointed Governor of Ireland. Even this was not enough for the +besotted King, who brought him home again in a year’s time, and not +only disgusted the Court and the people by his doting folly, but +offended his beautiful wife too, who never liked him afterwards. + +He had now the old Royal want—of money—and the Barons had the new power +of positively refusing to let him raise any. He summoned a Parliament +at York; the Barons refused to make one, while the favourite was near +him. He summoned another Parliament at Westminster, and sent Gaveston +away. Then, the Barons came, completely armed, and appointed a +committee of themselves to correct abuses in the state and in the +King’s household. He got some money on these conditions, and directly +set off with Gaveston to the Border-country, where they spent it in +idling away the time, and feasting, while Bruce made ready to drive the +English out of Scotland. For, though the old King had even made this +poor weak son of his swear (as some say) that he would not bury his +bones, but would have them boiled clean in a caldron, and carried +before the English army until Scotland was entirely subdued, the second +Edward was so unlike the first that Bruce gained strength and power +every day. + +The committee of Nobles, after some months of deliberation, ordained +that the King should henceforth call a Parliament together, once every +year, and even twice if necessary, instead of summoning it only when he +chose. Further, that Gaveston should once more be banished, and, this +time, on pain of death if he ever came back. The King’s tears were of +no avail; he was obliged to send his favourite to Flanders. As soon as +he had done so, however, he dissolved the Parliament, with the low +cunning of a mere fool, and set off to the North of England, thinking +to get an army about him to oppose the Nobles. And once again he +brought Gaveston home, and heaped upon him all the riches and titles of +which the Barons had deprived him. + +The Lords saw, now, that there was nothing for it but to put the +favourite to death. They could have done so, legally, according to the +terms of his banishment; but they did so, I am sorry to say, in a +shabby manner. Led by the Earl of Lancaster, the King’s cousin, they +first of all attacked the King and Gaveston at Newcastle. They had time +to escape by sea, and the mean King, having his precious Gaveston with +him, was quite content to leave his lovely wife behind. When they were +comparatively safe, they separated; the King went to York to collect a +force of soldiers; and the favourite shut himself up, in the meantime, +in Scarborough Castle overlooking the sea. This was what the Barons +wanted. They knew that the Castle could not hold out; they attacked it, +and made Gaveston surrender. He delivered himself up to the Earl of +Pembroke—that Lord whom he had called the Jew—on the Earl’s pledging +his faith and knightly word, that no harm should happen to him and no +violence be done him. + +Now, it was agreed with Gaveston that he should be taken to the Castle +of Wallingford, and there kept in honourable custody. They travelled as +far as Dedington, near Banbury, where, in the Castle of that place, +they stopped for a night to rest. Whether the Earl of Pembroke left his +prisoner there, knowing what would happen, or really left him thinking +no harm, and only going (as he pretended) to visit his wife, the +Countess, who was in the neighbourhood, is no great matter now; in any +case, he was bound as an honourable gentleman to protect his prisoner, +and he did not do it. In the morning, while the favourite was yet in +bed, he was required to dress himself and come down into the +court-yard. He did so without any mistrust, but started and turned pale +when he found it full of strange armed men. ‘I think you know me?’ said +their leader, also armed from head to foot. ‘I am the black dog of +Ardenne!’ The time was come when Piers Gaveston was to feel the black +dog’s teeth indeed. They set him on a mule, and carried him, in mock +state and with military music, to the black dog’s kennel—Warwick +Castle—where a hasty council, composed of some great noblemen, +considered what should be done with him. Some were for sparing him, but +one loud voice—it was the black dog’s bark, I dare say—sounded through +the Castle Hall, uttering these words: ‘You have the fox in your power. +Let him go now, and you must hunt him again.’ + +They sentenced him to death. He threw himself at the feet of the Earl +of Lancaster—the old hog—but the old hog was as savage as the dog. He +was taken out upon the pleasant road, leading from Warwick to Coventry, +where the beautiful river Avon, by which, long afterwards, William +Shakespeare was born and now lies buried, sparkled in the bright +landscape of the beautiful May-day; and there they struck off his +wretched head, and stained the dust with his blood. + +When the King heard of this black deed, in his grief and rage he +denounced relentless war against his Barons, and both sides were in +arms for half a year. But, it then became necessary for them to join +their forces against Bruce, who had used the time well while they were +divided, and had now a great power in Scotland. + +Intelligence was brought that Bruce was then besieging Stirling Castle, +and that the Governor had been obliged to pledge himself to surrender +it, unless he should be relieved before a certain day. Hereupon, the +King ordered the nobles and their fighting-men to meet him at Berwick; +but, the nobles cared so little for the King, and so neglected the +summons, and lost time, that only on the day before that appointed for +the surrender, did the King find himself at Stirling, and even then +with a smaller force than he had expected. However, he had, altogether, +a hundred thousand men, and Bruce had not more than forty thousand; +but, Bruce’s army was strongly posted in three square columns, on the +ground lying between the Burn or Brook of Bannock and the walls of +Stirling Castle. + +On the very evening, when the King came up, Bruce did a brave act that +encouraged his men. He was seen by a certain Henry de Bohun, an English +Knight, riding about before his army on a little horse, with a light +battle-axe in his hand, and a crown of gold on his head. This English +Knight, who was mounted on a strong war-horse, cased in steel, strongly +armed, and able (as he thought) to overthrow Bruce by crushing him with +his mere weight, set spurs to his great charger, rode on him, and made +a thrust at him with his heavy spear. Bruce parried the thrust, and +with one blow of his battle-axe split his skull. + +The Scottish men did not forget this, next day when the battle raged. +Randolph, Bruce’s valiant Nephew, rode, with the small body of men he +commanded, into such a host of the English, all shining in polished +armour in the sunlight, that they seemed to be swallowed up and lost, +as if they had plunged into the sea. But, they fought so well, and did +such dreadful execution, that the English staggered. Then came Bruce +himself upon them, with all the rest of his army. While they were thus +hard pressed and amazed, there appeared upon the hills what they +supposed to be a new Scottish army, but what were really only the camp +followers, in number fifteen thousand: whom Bruce had taught to show +themselves at that place and time. The Earl of Gloucester, commanding +the English horse, made a last rush to change the fortune of the day; +but Bruce (like Jack the Giant-killer in the story) had had pits dug in +the ground, and covered over with turfs and stakes. Into these, as they +gave way beneath the weight of the horses, riders and horses rolled by +hundreds. The English were completely routed; all their treasure, +stores, and engines, were taken by the Scottish men; so many waggons +and other wheeled vehicles were seized, that it is related that they +would have reached, if they had been drawn out in a line, one hundred +and eighty miles. The fortunes of Scotland were, for the time, +completely changed; and never was a battle won, more famous upon +Scottish ground, than this great battle of Bannockburn. + +Plague and famine succeeded in England; and still the powerless King +and his disdainful Lords were always in contention. Some of the +turbulent chiefs of Ireland made proposals to Bruce, to accept the rule +of that country. He sent his brother Edward to them, who was crowned +King of Ireland. He afterwards went himself to help his brother in his +Irish wars, but his brother was defeated in the end and killed. Robert +Bruce, returning to Scotland, still increased his strength there. + +As the King’s ruin had begun in a favourite, so it seemed likely to end +in one. He was too poor a creature to rely at all upon himself; and his +new favourite was one Hugh le Despenser, the son of a gentleman of +ancient family. Hugh was handsome and brave, but he was the favourite +of a weak King, whom no man cared a rush for, and that was a dangerous +place to hold. The Nobles leagued against him, because the King liked +him; and they lay in wait, both for his ruin and his father’s. Now, the +King had married him to the daughter of the late Earl of Gloucester, +and had given both him and his father great possessions in Wales. In +their endeavours to extend these, they gave violent offence to an angry +Welsh gentleman, named John de Mowbray, and to divers other angry Welsh +gentlemen, who resorted to arms, took their castles, and seized their +estates. The Earl of Lancaster had first placed the favourite (who was +a poor relation of his own) at Court, and he considered his own dignity +offended by the preference he received and the honours he acquired; so +he, and the Barons who were his friends, joined the Welshmen, marched +on London, and sent a message to the King demanding to have the +favourite and his father banished. At first, the King unaccountably +took it into his head to be spirited, and to send them a bold reply; +but when they quartered themselves around Holborn and Clerkenwell, and +went down, armed, to the Parliament at Westminster, he gave way, and +complied with their demands. + +His turn of triumph came sooner than he expected. It arose out of an +accidental circumstance. The beautiful Queen happening to be +travelling, came one night to one of the royal castles, and demanded to +be lodged and entertained there until morning. The governor of this +castle, who was one of the enraged lords, was away, and in his absence, +his wife refused admission to the Queen; a scuffle took place among the +common men on either side, and some of the royal attendants were +killed. The people, who cared nothing for the King, were very angry +that their beautiful Queen should be thus rudely treated in her own +dominions; and the King, taking advantage of this feeling, besieged the +castle, took it, and then called the two Despensers home. Upon this, +the confederate lords and the Welshmen went over to Bruce. The King +encountered them at Boroughbridge, gained the victory, and took a +number of distinguished prisoners; among them, the Earl of Lancaster, +now an old man, upon whose destruction he was resolved. This Earl was +taken to his own castle of Pontefract, and there tried and found guilty +by an unfair court appointed for the purpose; he was not even allowed +to speak in his own defence. He was insulted, pelted, mounted on a +starved pony without saddle or bridle, carried out, and beheaded. +Eight-and-twenty knights were hanged, drawn, and quartered. When the +King had despatched this bloody work, and had made a fresh and a long +truce with Bruce, he took the Despensers into greater favour than ever, +and made the father Earl of Winchester. + +One prisoner, and an important one, who was taken at Boroughbridge, +made his escape, however, and turned the tide against the King. This +was Roger Mortimer, always resolutely opposed to him, who was sentenced +to death, and placed for safe custody in the Tower of London. He +treated his guards to a quantity of wine into which he had put a +sleeping potion; and, when they were insensible, broke out of his +dungeon, got into a kitchen, climbed up the chimney, let himself down +from the roof of the building with a rope-ladder, passed the sentries, +got down to the river, and made away in a boat to where servants and +horses were waiting for him. He finally escaped to France, where +Charles le Bel, the brother of the beautiful Queen, was King. Charles +sought to quarrel with the King of England, on pretence of his not +having come to do him homage at his coronation. It was proposed that +the beautiful Queen should go over to arrange the dispute; she went, +and wrote home to the King, that as he was sick and could not come to +France himself, perhaps it would be better to send over the young +Prince, their son, who was only twelve years old, who could do homage +to her brother in his stead, and in whose company she would immediately +return. The King sent him: but, both he and the Queen remained at the +French Court, and Roger Mortimer became the Queen’s lover. + +When the King wrote, again and again, to the Queen to come home, she +did not reply that she despised him too much to live with him any more +(which was the truth), but said she was afraid of the two Despensers. +In short, her design was to overthrow the favourites’ power, and the +King’s power, such as it was, and invade England. Having obtained a +French force of two thousand men, and being joined by all the English +exiles then in France, she landed, within a year, at Orewell, in +Suffolk, where she was immediately joined by the Earls of Kent and +Norfolk, the King’s two brothers; by other powerful noblemen; and +lastly, by the first English general who was despatched to check her: +who went over to her with all his men. The people of London, receiving +these tidings, would do nothing for the King, but broke open the Tower, +let out all his prisoners, and threw up their caps and hurrahed for the +beautiful Queen. + +The King, with his two favourites, fled to Bristol, where he left old +Despenser in charge of the town and castle, while he went on with the +son to Wales. The Bristol men being opposed to the King, and it being +impossible to hold the town with enemies everywhere within the walls, +Despenser yielded it up on the third day, and was instantly brought to +trial for having traitorously influenced what was called ‘the King’s +mind’—though I doubt if the King ever had any. He was a venerable old +man, upwards of ninety years of age, but his age gained no respect or +mercy. He was hanged, torn open while he was yet alive, cut up into +pieces, and thrown to the dogs. His son was soon taken, tried at +Hereford before the same judge on a long series of foolish charges, +found guilty, and hanged upon a gallows fifty feet high, with a chaplet +of nettles round his head. His poor old father and he were innocent +enough of any worse crimes than the crime of having been friends of a +King, on whom, as a mere man, they would never have deigned to cast a +favourable look. It is a bad crime, I know, and leads to worse; but, +many lords and gentlemen—I even think some ladies, too, if I recollect +right—have committed it in England, who have neither been given to the +dogs, nor hanged up fifty feet high. + +The wretched King was running here and there, all this time, and never +getting anywhere in particular, until he gave himself up, and was taken +off to Kenilworth Castle. When he was safely lodged there, the Queen +went to London and met the Parliament. And the Bishop of Hereford, who +was the most skilful of her friends, said, What was to be done now? +Here was an imbecile, indolent, miserable King upon the throne; +wouldn’t it be better to take him off, and put his son there instead? I +don’t know whether the Queen really pitied him at this pass, but she +began to cry; so, the Bishop said, Well, my Lords and Gentlemen, what +do you think, upon the whole, of sending down to Kenilworth, and seeing +if His Majesty (God bless him, and forbid we should depose him!) won’t +resign? + +My Lords and Gentlemen thought it a good notion, so a deputation of +them went down to Kenilworth; and there the King came into the great +hall of the Castle, commonly dressed in a poor black gown; and when he +saw a certain bishop among them, fell down, poor feeble-headed man, and +made a wretched spectacle of himself. Somebody lifted him up, and then +Sir William Trussel, the Speaker of the House of Commons, almost +frightened him to death by making him a tremendous speech to the effect +that he was no longer a King, and that everybody renounced allegiance +to him. After which, Sir Thomas Blount, the Steward of the Household, +nearly finished him, by coming forward and breaking his white +wand—which was a ceremony only performed at a King’s death. Being asked +in this pressing manner what he thought of resigning, the King said he +thought it was the best thing he could do. So, he did it, and they +proclaimed his son next day. + +I wish I could close his history by saying that he lived a harmless +life in the Castle and the Castle gardens at Kenilworth, many +years—that he had a favourite, and plenty to eat and drink—and, having +that, wanted nothing. But he was shamefully humiliated. He was +outraged, and slighted, and had dirty water from ditches given him to +shave with, and wept and said he would have clean warm water, and was +altogether very miserable. He was moved from this castle to that +castle, and from that castle to the other castle, because this lord or +that lord, or the other lord, was too kind to him: until at last he +came to Berkeley Castle, near the River Severn, where (the Lord +Berkeley being then ill and absent) he fell into the hands of two black +ruffians, called Thomas Gournay and William Ogle. + +One night—it was the night of September the twenty-first, one thousand +three hundred and twenty-seven—dreadful screams were heard, by the +startled people in the neighbouring town, ringing through the thick +walls of the Castle, and the dark, deep night; and they said, as they +were thus horribly awakened from their sleep, ‘May Heaven be merciful +to the King; for those cries forbode that no good is being done to him +in his dismal prison!’ Next morning he was dead—not bruised, or +stabbed, or marked upon the body, but much distorted in the face; and +it was whispered afterwards, that those two villains, Gournay and Ogle, +had burnt up his inside with a red-hot iron. + +If you ever come near Gloucester, and see the centre tower of its +beautiful Cathedral, with its four rich pinnacles, rising lightly in +the air; you may remember that the wretched Edward the Second was +buried in the old abbey of that ancient city, at forty-three years old, +after being for nineteen years and a half a perfectly incapable King. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE THIRD + + +Roger Mortimer, the Queen’s lover (who escaped to France in the last +chapter), was far from profiting by the examples he had had of the fate +of favourites. Having, through the Queen’s influence, come into +possession of the estates of the two Despensers, he became extremely +proud and ambitious, and sought to be the real ruler of England. The +young King, who was crowned at fourteen years of age with all the usual +solemnities, resolved not to bear this, and soon pursued Mortimer to +his ruin. + +The people themselves were not fond of Mortimer—first, because he was a +Royal favourite; secondly, because he was supposed to have helped to +make a peace with Scotland which now took place, and in virtue of which +the young King’s sister Joan, only seven years old, was promised in +marriage to David, the son and heir of Robert Bruce, who was only five +years old. The nobles hated Mortimer because of his pride, riches, and +power. They went so far as to take up arms against him; but were +obliged to submit. The Earl of Kent, one of those who did so, but who +afterwards went over to Mortimer and the Queen, was made an example of +in the following cruel manner: + +He seems to have been anything but a wise old earl; and he was +persuaded by the agents of the favourite and the Queen, that poor King +Edward the Second was not really dead; and thus was betrayed into +writing letters favouring his rightful claim to the throne. This was +made out to be high treason, and he was tried, found guilty, and +sentenced to be executed. They took the poor old lord outside the town +of Winchester, and there kept him waiting some three or four hours +until they could find somebody to cut off his head. At last, a convict +said he would do it, if the government would pardon him in return; and +they gave him the pardon; and at one blow he put the Earl of Kent out +of his last suspense. + +While the Queen was in France, she had found a lovely and good young +lady, named Philippa, who she thought would make an excellent wife for +her son. The young King married this lady, soon after he came to the +throne; and her first child, Edward, Prince of Wales, afterwards became +celebrated, as we shall presently see, under the famous title of Edward +the Black Prince. + +The young King, thinking the time ripe for the downfall of Mortimer, +took counsel with Lord Montacute how he should proceed. A Parliament +was going to be held at Nottingham, and that lord recommended that the +favourite should be seized by night in Nottingham Castle, where he was +sure to be. Now, this, like many other things, was more easily said +than done; because, to guard against treachery, the great gates of the +Castle were locked every night, and the great keys were carried +up-stairs to the Queen, who laid them under her own pillow. But the +Castle had a governor, and the governor being Lord Montacute’s friend, +confided to him how he knew of a secret passage underground, hidden +from observation by the weeds and brambles with which it was overgrown; +and how, through that passage, the conspirators might enter in the dead +of the night, and go straight to Mortimer’s room. Accordingly, upon a +certain dark night, at midnight, they made their way through this +dismal place: startling the rats, and frightening the owls and bats: +and came safely to the bottom of the main tower of the Castle, where +the King met them, and took them up a profoundly-dark staircase in a +deep silence. They soon heard the voice of Mortimer in council with +some friends; and bursting into the room with a sudden noise, took him +prisoner. The Queen cried out from her bed-chamber, ‘Oh, my sweet son, +my dear son, spare my gentle Mortimer!’ They carried him off, however; +and, before the next Parliament, accused him of having made differences +between the young King and his mother, and of having brought about the +death of the Earl of Kent, and even of the late King; for, as you know +by this time, when they wanted to get rid of a man in those old days, +they were not very particular of what they accused him. Mortimer was +found guilty of all this, and was sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn. The +King shut his mother up in genteel confinement, where she passed the +rest of her life; and now he became King in earnest. + +The first effort he made was to conquer Scotland. The English lords who +had lands in Scotland, finding that their rights were not respected +under the late peace, made war on their own account: choosing for their +general, Edward, the son of John Baliol, who made such a vigorous +fight, that in less than two months he won the whole Scottish Kingdom. +He was joined, when thus triumphant, by the King and Parliament; and he +and the King in person besieged the Scottish forces in Berwick. The +whole Scottish army coming to the assistance of their countrymen, such +a furious battle ensued, that thirty thousand men are said to have been +killed in it. Baliol was then crowned King of Scotland, doing homage to +the King of England; but little came of his successes after all, for +the Scottish men rose against him, within no very long time, and David +Bruce came back within ten years and took his kingdom. + +France was a far richer country than Scotland, and the King had a much +greater mind to conquer it. So, he let Scotland alone, and pretended +that he had a claim to the French throne in right of his mother. He +had, in reality, no claim at all; but that mattered little in those +times. He brought over to his cause many little princes and sovereigns, +and even courted the alliance of the people of Flanders—a busy, working +community, who had very small respect for kings, and whose head man was +a brewer. With such forces as he raised by these means, Edward invaded +France; but he did little by that, except run into debt in carrying on +the war to the extent of three hundred thousand pounds. The next year +he did better; gaining a great sea-fight in the harbour of Sluys. This +success, however, was very shortlived, for the Flemings took fright at +the siege of Saint Omer and ran away, leaving their weapons and baggage +behind them. Philip, the French King, coming up with his army, and +Edward being very anxious to decide the war, proposed to settle the +difference by single combat with him, or by a fight of one hundred +knights on each side. The French King said, he thanked him; but being +very well as he was, he would rather not. So, after some skirmishing +and talking, a short peace was made. + +It was soon broken by King Edward’s favouring the cause of John, Earl +of Montford; a French nobleman, who asserted a claim of his own against +the French King, and offered to do homage to England for the Crown of +France, if he could obtain it through England’s help. This French lord, +himself, was soon defeated by the French King’s son, and shut up in a +tower in Paris; but his wife, a courageous and beautiful woman, who is +said to have had the courage of a man, and the heart of a lion, +assembled the people of Brittany, where she then was; and, showing them +her infant son, made many pathetic entreaties to them not to desert her +and their young Lord. They took fire at this appeal, and rallied round +her in the strong castle of Hennebon. Here she was not only besieged +without by the French under Charles de Blois, but was endangered within +by a dreary old bishop, who was always representing to the people what +horrors they must undergo if they were faithful—first from famine, and +afterwards from fire and sword. But this noble lady, whose heart never +failed her, encouraged her soldiers by her own example; went from post +to post like a great general; even mounted on horseback fully armed, +and, issuing from the castle by a by-path, fell upon the French camp, +set fire to the tents, and threw the whole force into disorder. This +done, she got safely back to Hennebon again, and was received with loud +shouts of joy by the defenders of the castle, who had given her up for +lost. As they were now very short of provisions, however, and as they +could not dine off enthusiasm, and as the old bishop was always saying, +‘I told you what it would come to!’ they began to lose heart, and to +talk of yielding the castle up. The brave Countess retiring to an upper +room and looking with great grief out to sea, where she expected relief +from England, saw, at this very time, the English ships in the +distance, and was relieved and rescued! Sir Walter Manning, the English +commander, so admired her courage, that, being come into the castle +with the English knights, and having made a feast there, he assaulted +the French by way of dessert, and beat them off triumphantly. Then he +and the knights came back to the castle with great joy; and the +Countess who had watched them from a high tower, thanked them with all +her heart, and kissed them every one. + +This noble lady distinguished herself afterwards in a sea-fight with +the French off Guernsey, when she was on her way to England to ask for +more troops. Her great spirit roused another lady, the wife of another +French lord (whom the French King very barbarously murdered), to +distinguish herself scarcely less. The time was fast coming, however, +when Edward, Prince of Wales, was to be the great star of this French +and English war. + +It was in the month of July, in the year one thousand three hundred and +forty-six, when the King embarked at Southampton for France, with an +army of about thirty thousand men in all, attended by the Prince of +Wales and by several of the chief nobles. He landed at La Hogue in +Normandy; and, burning and destroying as he went, according to custom, +advanced up the left bank of the River Seine, and fired the small towns +even close to Paris; but, being watched from the right bank of the +river by the French King and all his army, it came to this at last, +that Edward found himself, on Saturday the twenty-sixth of August, one +thousand three hundred and forty-six, on a rising ground behind the +little French village of Crecy, face to face with the French King’s +force. And, although the French King had an enormous army—in number +more than eight times his—he there resolved to beat him or be beaten. + +The young Prince, assisted by the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of +Warwick, led the first division of the English army; two other great +Earls led the second; and the King, the third. When the morning dawned, +the King received the sacrament, and heard prayers, and then, mounted +on horseback with a white wand in his hand, rode from company to +company, and rank to rank, cheering and encouraging both officers and +men. Then the whole army breakfasted, each man sitting on the ground +where he had stood; and then they remained quietly on the ground with +their weapons ready. + +Up came the French King with all his great force. It was dark and angry +weather; there was an eclipse of the sun; there was a thunder-storm, +accompanied with tremendous rain; the frightened birds flew screaming +above the soldiers’ heads. A certain captain in the French army advised +the French King, who was by no means cheerful, not to begin the battle +until the morrow. The King, taking this advice, gave the word to halt. +But, those behind not understanding it, or desiring to be foremost with +the rest, came pressing on. The roads for a great distance were covered +with this immense army, and with the common people from the villages, +who were flourishing their rude weapons, and making a great noise. +Owing to these circumstances, the French army advanced in the greatest +confusion; every French lord doing what he liked with his own men, and +putting out the men of every other French lord. + +Now, their King relied strongly upon a great body of cross-bowmen from +Genoa; and these he ordered to the front to begin the battle, on +finding that he could not stop it. They shouted once, they shouted +twice, they shouted three times, to alarm the English archers; but, the +English would have heard them shout three thousand times and would have +never moved. At last the cross-bowmen went forward a little, and began +to discharge their bolts; upon which, the English let fly such a hail +of arrows, that the Genoese speedily made off—for their cross-bows, +besides being heavy to carry, required to be wound up with a handle, +and consequently took time to re-load; the English, on the other hand, +could discharge their arrows almost as fast as the arrows could fly. + +When the French King saw the Genoese turning, he cried out to his men +to kill those scoundrels, who were doing harm instead of service. This +increased the confusion. Meanwhile the English archers, continuing to +shoot as fast as ever, shot down great numbers of the French soldiers +and knights; whom certain sly Cornish-men and Welshmen, from the +English army, creeping along the ground, despatched with great knives. + +The Prince and his division were at this time so hard-pressed, that the +Earl of Warwick sent a message to the King, who was overlooking the +battle from a windmill, beseeching him to send more aid. + +‘Is my son killed?’ said the King. + +‘No, sire, please God,’ returned the messenger. + +‘Is he wounded?’ said the King. + +‘No, sire.’ + +‘Is he thrown to the ground?’ said the King. + +‘No, sire, not so; but, he is very hard-pressed.’ + +‘Then,’ said the King, ‘go back to those who sent you, and tell them I +shall send no aid; because I set my heart upon my son proving himself +this day a brave knight, and because I am resolved, please God, that +the honour of a great victory shall be his!’ + +These bold words, being reported to the Prince and his division, so +raised their spirits, that they fought better than ever. The King of +France charged gallantly with his men many times; but it was of no use. +Night closing in, his horse was killed under him by an English arrow, +and the knights and nobles who had clustered thick about him early in +the day, were now completely scattered. At last, some of his few +remaining followers led him off the field by force since he would not +retire of himself, and they journeyed away to Amiens. The victorious +English, lighting their watch-fires, made merry on the field, and the +King, riding to meet his gallant son, took him in his arms, kissed him, +and told him that he had acted nobly, and proved himself worthy of the +day and of the crown. While it was yet night, King Edward was hardly +aware of the great victory he had gained; but, next day, it was +discovered that eleven princes, twelve hundred knights, and thirty +thousand common men lay dead upon the French side. Among these was the +King of Bohemia, an old blind man; who, having been told that his son +was wounded in the battle, and that no force could stand against the +Black Prince, called to him two knights, put himself on horse-back +between them, fastened the three bridles together, and dashed in among +the English, where he was presently slain. He bore as his crest three +white ostrich feathers, with the motto _Ich dien_, signifying in +English ‘I serve.’ This crest and motto were taken by the Prince of +Wales in remembrance of that famous day, and have been borne by the +Prince of Wales ever since. + +Five days after this great battle, the King laid siege to Calais. This +siege—ever afterwards memorable—lasted nearly a year. In order to +starve the inhabitants out, King Edward built so many wooden houses for +the lodgings of his troops, that it is said their quarters looked like +a second Calais suddenly sprung around the first. Early in the siege, +the governor of the town drove out what he called the useless mouths, +to the number of seventeen hundred persons, men and women, young and +old. King Edward allowed them to pass through his lines, and even fed +them, and dismissed them with money; but, later in the siege, he was +not so merciful—five hundred more, who were afterwards driven out, +dying of starvation and misery. The garrison were so hard-pressed at +last, that they sent a letter to King Philip, telling him that they had +eaten all the horses, all the dogs, and all the rats and mice that +could be found in the place; and, that if he did not relieve them, they +must either surrender to the English, or eat one another. Philip made +one effort to give them relief; but they were so hemmed in by the +English power, that he could not succeed, and was fain to leave the +place. Upon this they hoisted the English flag, and surrendered to King +Edward. ‘Tell your general,’ said he to the humble messengers who came +out of the town, ‘that I require to have sent here, six of the most +distinguished citizens, bare-legged, and in their shirts, with ropes +about their necks; and let those six men bring with them the keys of +the castle and the town.’ + +When the Governor of Calais related this to the people in the +Market-place, there was great weeping and distress; in the midst of +which, one worthy citizen, named Eustace de Saint Pierre, rose up and +said, that if the six men required were not sacrificed, the whole +population would be; therefore, he offered himself as the first. +Encouraged by this bright example, five other worthy citizens rose up +one after another, and offered themselves to save the rest. The +Governor, who was too badly wounded to be able to walk, mounted a poor +old horse that had not been eaten, and conducted these good men to the +gate, while all the people cried and mourned. + +Edward received them wrathfully, and ordered the heads of the whole six +to be struck off. However, the good Queen fell upon her knees, and +besought the King to give them up to her. The King replied, ‘I wish you +had been somewhere else; but I cannot refuse you.’ So she had them +properly dressed, made a feast for them, and sent them back with a +handsome present, to the great rejoicing of the whole camp. I hope the +people of Calais loved the daughter to whom she gave birth soon +afterwards, for her gentle mother’s sake. + +Now came that terrible disease, the Plague, into Europe, hurrying from +the heart of China; and killed the wretched people—especially the +poor—in such enormous numbers, that one-half of the inhabitants of +England are related to have died of it. It killed the cattle, in great +numbers, too; and so few working men remained alive, that there were +not enough left to till the ground. + +After eight years of differing and quarrelling, the Prince of Wales +again invaded France with an army of sixty thousand men. He went +through the south of the country, burning and plundering wheresoever he +went; while his father, who had still the Scottish war upon his hands, +did the like in Scotland, but was harassed and worried in his retreat +from that country by the Scottish men, who repaid his cruelties with +interest. + +The French King, Philip, was now dead, and was succeeded by his son +John. The Black Prince, called by that name from the colour of the +armour he wore to set off his fair complexion, continuing to burn and +destroy in France, roused John into determined opposition; and so cruel +had the Black Prince been in his campaign, and so severely had the +French peasants suffered, that he could not find one who, for love, or +money, or the fear of death, would tell him what the French King was +doing, or where he was. Thus it happened that he came upon the French +King’s forces, all of a sudden, near the town of Poitiers, and found +that the whole neighbouring country was occupied by a vast French army. +‘God help us!’ said the Black Prince, ‘we must make the best of it.’ + +So, on a Sunday morning, the eighteenth of September, the Prince whose +army was now reduced to ten thousand men in all—prepared to give battle +to the French King, who had sixty thousand horse alone. While he was so +engaged, there came riding from the French camp, a Cardinal, who had +persuaded John to let him offer terms, and try to save the shedding of +Christian blood. ‘Save my honour,’ said the Prince to this good priest, +‘and save the honour of my army, and I will make any reasonable terms.’ +He offered to give up all the towns, castles, and prisoners, he had +taken, and to swear to make no war in France for seven years; but, as +John would hear of nothing but his surrender, with a hundred of his +chief knights, the treaty was broken off, and the Prince said +quietly—‘God defend the right; we shall fight to-morrow.’ + +Therefore, on the Monday morning, at break of day, the two armies +prepared for battle. The English were posted in a strong place, which +could only be approached by one narrow lane, skirted by hedges on both +sides. The French attacked them by this lane; but were so galled and +slain by English arrows from behind the hedges, that they were forced +to retreat. Then went six hundred English bowmen round about, and, +coming upon the rear of the French army, rained arrows on them thick +and fast. The French knights, thrown into confusion, quitted their +banners and dispersed in all directions. Said Sir John Chandos to the +Prince, ‘Ride forward, noble Prince, and the day is yours. The King of +France is so valiant a gentleman, that I know he will never fly, and +may be taken prisoner.’ Said the Prince to this, ‘Advance, English +banners, in the name of God and St. George!’ and on they pressed until +they came up with the French King, fighting fiercely with his +battle-axe, and, when all his nobles had forsaken him, attended +faithfully to the last by his youngest son Philip, only sixteen years +of age. Father and son fought well, and the King had already two wounds +in his face, and had been beaten down, when he at last delivered +himself to a banished French knight, and gave him his right-hand glove +in token that he had done so. + +The Black Prince was generous as well as brave, and he invited his +royal prisoner to supper in his tent, and waited upon him at table, +and, when they afterwards rode into London in a gorgeous procession, +mounted the French King on a fine cream-coloured horse, and rode at his +side on a little pony. This was all very kind, but I think it was, +perhaps, a little theatrical too, and has been made more meritorious +than it deserved to be; especially as I am inclined to think that the +greatest kindness to the King of France would have been not to have +shown him to the people at all. However, it must be said, for these +acts of politeness, that, in course of time, they did much to soften +the horrors of war and the passions of conquerors. It was a long, long +time before the common soldiers began to have the benefit of such +courtly deeds; but they did at last; and thus it is possible that a +poor soldier who asked for quarter at the battle of Waterloo, or any +other such great fight, may have owed his life indirectly to Edward the +Black Prince. + +At this time there stood in the Strand, in London, a palace called the +Savoy, which was given up to the captive King of France and his son for +their residence. As the King of Scotland had now been King Edward’s +captive for eleven years too, his success was, at this time, tolerably +complete. The Scottish business was settled by the prisoner being +released under the title of Sir David, King of Scotland, and by his +engaging to pay a large ransom. The state of France encouraged England +to propose harder terms to that country, where the people rose against +the unspeakable cruelty and barbarity of its nobles; where the nobles +rose in turn against the people; where the most frightful outrages were +committed on all sides; and where the insurrection of the peasants, +called the insurrection of the Jacquerie, from Jacques, a common +Christian name among the country people of France, awakened terrors and +hatreds that have scarcely yet passed away. A treaty called the Great +Peace, was at last signed, under which King Edward agreed to give up +the greater part of his conquests, and King John to pay, within six +years, a ransom of three million crowns of gold. He was so beset by his +own nobles and courtiers for having yielded to these conditions—though +they could help him to no better—that he came back of his own will to +his old palace-prison of the Savoy, and there died. + +There was a Sovereign of Castile at that time, called Pedro the Cruel, +who deserved the name remarkably well: having committed, among other +cruelties, a variety of murders. This amiable monarch being driven from +his throne for his crimes, went to the province of Bordeaux, where the +Black Prince—now married to his cousin Joan, a pretty widow—was +residing, and besought his help. The Prince, who took to him much more +kindly than a prince of such fame ought to have taken to such a +ruffian, readily listened to his fair promises, and agreeing to help +him, sent secret orders to some troublesome disbanded soldiers of his +and his father’s, who called themselves the Free Companions, and who +had been a pest to the French people, for some time, to aid this Pedro. +The Prince, himself, going into Spain to head the army of relief, soon +set Pedro on his throne again—where he no sooner found himself, than, +of course, he behaved like the villain he was, broke his word without +the least shame, and abandoned all the promises he had made to the +Black Prince. + +Now, it had cost the Prince a good deal of money to pay soldiers to +support this murderous King; and finding himself, when he came back +disgusted to Bordeaux, not only in bad health, but deeply in debt, he +began to tax his French subjects to pay his creditors. They appealed to +the French King, Charles; war again broke out; and the French town of +Limoges, which the Prince had greatly benefited, went over to the +French King. Upon this he ravaged the province of which it was the +capital; burnt, and plundered, and killed in the old sickening way; and +refused mercy to the prisoners, men, women, and children taken in the +offending town, though he was so ill and so much in need of pity +himself from Heaven, that he was carried in a litter. He lived to come +home and make himself popular with the people and Parliament, and he +died on Trinity Sunday, the eighth of June, one thousand three hundred +and seventy-six, at forty-six years old. + +The whole nation mourned for him as one of the most renowned and +beloved princes it had ever had; and he was buried with great +lamentations in Canterbury Cathedral. Near to the tomb of Edward the +Confessor, his monument, with his figure, carved in stone, and +represented in the old black armour, lying on its back, may be seen at +this day, with an ancient coat of mail, a helmet, and a pair of +gauntlets hanging from a beam above it, which most people like to +believe were once worn by the Black Prince. + +King Edward did not outlive his renowned son, long. He was old, and one +Alice Perrers, a beautiful lady, had contrived to make him so fond of +her in his old age, that he could refuse her nothing, and made himself +ridiculous. She little deserved his love, or—what I dare say she valued +a great deal more—the jewels of the late Queen, which he gave her among +other rich presents. She took the very ring from his finger on the +morning of the day when he died, and left him to be pillaged by his +faithless servants. Only one good priest was true to him, and attended +him to the last. + +Besides being famous for the great victories I have related, the reign +of King Edward the Third was rendered memorable in better ways, by the +growth of architecture and the erection of Windsor Castle. In better +ways still, by the rising up of Wickliffe, originally a poor parish +priest: who devoted himself to exposing, with wonderful power and +success, the ambition and corruption of the Pope, and of the whole +church of which he was the head. + +Some of those Flemings were induced to come to England in this reign +too, and to settle in Norfolk, where they made better woollen cloths +than the English had ever had before. The Order of the Garter (a very +fine thing in its way, but hardly so important as good clothes for the +nation) also dates from this period. The King is said to have picked +‘up a lady’s garter at a ball, and to have said, _Honi soit qui mal y +pense_—in English, ‘Evil be to him who evil thinks of it.’ The +courtiers were usually glad to imitate what the King said or did, and +hence from a slight incident the Order of the Garter was instituted, +and became a great dignity. So the story goes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE SECOND + + +Richard, son of the Black Prince, a boy eleven years of age, succeeded +to the Crown under the title of King Richard the Second. The whole +English nation were ready to admire him for the sake of his brave +father. As to the lords and ladies about the Court, they declared him +to be the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best—even of princes—whom +the lords and ladies about the Court, generally declare to be the most +beautiful, the wisest, and the best of mankind. To flatter a poor boy +in this base manner was not a very likely way to develop whatever good +was in him; and it brought him to anything but a good or happy end. + +The Duke of Lancaster, the young King’s uncle—commonly called John of +Gaunt, from having been born at Ghent, which the common people so +pronounced—was supposed to have some thoughts of the throne himself; +but, as he was not popular, and the memory of the Black Prince was, he +submitted to his nephew. + +The war with France being still unsettled, the Government of England +wanted money to provide for the expenses that might arise out of it; +accordingly a certain tax, called the Poll-tax, which had originated in +the last reign, was ordered to be levied on the people. This was a tax +on every person in the kingdom, male and female, above the age of +fourteen, of three groats (or three four-penny pieces) a year; +clergymen were charged more, and only beggars were exempt. + +I have no need to repeat that the common people of England had long +been suffering under great oppression. They were still the mere slaves +of the lords of the land on which they lived, and were on most +occasions harshly and unjustly treated. But, they had begun by this +time to think very seriously of not bearing quite so much; and, +probably, were emboldened by that French insurrection I mentioned in +the last chapter. + +The people of Essex rose against the Poll-tax, and being severely +handled by the government officers, killed some of them. At this very +time one of the tax-collectors, going his rounds from house to house, +at Dartford in Kent came to the cottage of one Wat, a tiler by trade, +and claimed the tax upon his daughter. Her mother, who was at home, +declared that she was under the age of fourteen; upon that, the +collector (as other collectors had already done in different parts of +England) behaved in a savage way, and brutally insulted Wat Tyler’s +daughter. The daughter screamed, the mother screamed. Wat the Tiler, +who was at work not far off, ran to the spot, and did what any honest +father under such provocation might have done—struck the collector dead +at a blow. + +Instantly the people of that town uprose as one man. They made Wat +Tyler their leader; they joined with the people of Essex, who were in +arms under a priest called Jack Straw; they took out of prison another +priest named John Ball; and gathering in numbers as they went along, +advanced, in a great confused army of poor men, to Blackheath. It is +said that they wanted to abolish all property, and to declare all men +equal. I do not think this very likely; because they stopped the +travellers on the roads and made them swear to be true to King Richard +and the people. Nor were they at all disposed to injure those who had +done them no harm, merely because they were of high station; for, the +King’s mother, who had to pass through their camp at Blackheath, on her +way to her young son, lying for safety in the Tower of London, had +merely to kiss a few dirty-faced rough-bearded men who were noisily +fond of royalty, and so got away in perfect safety. Next day the whole +mass marched on to London Bridge. + +There was a drawbridge in the middle, which William Walworth the Mayor +caused to be raised to prevent their coming into the city; but they +soon terrified the citizens into lowering it again, and spread +themselves, with great uproar, over the streets. They broke open the +prisons; they burned the papers in Lambeth Palace; they destroyed the +Duke of Lancaster’s Palace, the Savoy, in the Strand, said to be the +most beautiful and splendid in England; they set fire to the books and +documents in the Temple; and made a great riot. Many of these outrages +were committed in drunkenness; since those citizens, who had +well-filled cellars, were only too glad to throw them open to save the +rest of their property; but even the drunken rioters were very careful +to steal nothing. They were so angry with one man, who was seen to take +a silver cup at the Savoy Palace, and put it in his breast, that they +drowned him in the river, cup and all. + +The young King had been taken out to treat with them before they +committed these excesses; but, he and the people about him were so +frightened by the riotous shouts, that they got back to the Tower in +the best way they could. This made the insurgents bolder; so they went +on rioting away, striking off the heads of those who did not, at a +moment’s notice, declare for King Richard and the people; and killing +as many of the unpopular persons whom they supposed to be their enemies +as they could by any means lay hold of. In this manner they passed one +very violent day, and then proclamation was made that the King would +meet them at Mile-end, and grant their requests. + +The rioters went to Mile-end to the number of sixty thousand, and the +King met them there, and to the King the rioters peaceably proposed +four conditions. First, that neither they, nor their children, nor any +coming after them, should be made slaves any more. Secondly, that the +rent of land should be fixed at a certain price in money, instead of +being paid in service. Thirdly, that they should have liberty to buy +and sell in all markets and public places, like other free men. +Fourthly, that they should be pardoned for past offences. Heaven knows, +there was nothing very unreasonable in these proposals! The young King +deceitfully pretended to think so, and kept thirty clerks up, all +night, writing out a charter accordingly. + +Now, Wat Tyler himself wanted more than this. He wanted the entire +abolition of the forest laws. He was not at Mile-end with the rest, +but, while that meeting was being held, broke into the Tower of London +and slew the archbishop and the treasurer, for whose heads the people +had cried out loudly the day before. He and his men even thrust their +swords into the bed of the Princess of Wales while the Princess was in +it, to make certain that none of their enemies were concealed there. + +So, Wat and his men still continued armed, and rode about the city. +Next morning, the King with a small train of some sixty gentlemen—among +whom was Walworth the Mayor—rode into Smithfield, and saw Wat and his +people at a little distance. Says Wat to his men, ‘There is the King. I +will go speak with him, and tell him what we want.’ + +Straightway Wat rode up to him, and began to talk. ‘King,’ says Wat, +‘dost thou see all my men there?’ + +‘Ah,’ says the King. ‘Why?’ + +‘Because,’ says Wat, ‘they are all at my command, and have sworn to do +whatever I bid them.’ + +Some declared afterwards that as Wat said this, he laid his hand on the +King’s bridle. Others declared that he was seen to play with his own +dagger. I think, myself, that he just spoke to the King like a rough, +angry man as he was, and did nothing more. At any rate he was expecting +no attack, and preparing for no resistance, when Walworth the Mayor did +the not very valiant deed of drawing a short sword and stabbing him in +the throat. He dropped from his horse, and one of the King’s people +speedily finished him. So fell Wat Tyler. Fawners and flatterers made a +mighty triumph of it, and set up a cry which will occasionally find an +echo to this day. But Wat was a hard-working man, who had suffered +much, and had been foully outraged; and it is probable that he was a +man of a much higher nature and a much braver spirit than any of the +parasites who exulted then, or have exulted since, over his defeat. + +Seeing Wat down, his men immediately bent their bows to avenge his +fall. If the young King had not had presence of mind at that dangerous +moment, both he and the Mayor to boot, might have followed Tyler pretty +fast. But the King riding up to the crowd, cried out that Tyler was a +traitor, and that he would be their leader. They were so taken by +surprise, that they set up a great shouting, and followed the boy until +he was met at Islington by a large body of soldiers. + +The end of this rising was the then usual end. As soon as the King +found himself safe, he unsaid all he had said, and undid all he had +done; some fifteen hundred of the rioters were tried (mostly in Essex) +with great rigour, and executed with great cruelty. Many of them were +hanged on gibbets, and left there as a terror to the country people; +and, because their miserable friends took some of the bodies down to +bury, the King ordered the rest to be chained up—which was the +beginning of the barbarous custom of hanging in chains. The King’s +falsehood in this business makes such a pitiful figure, that I think +Wat Tyler appears in history as beyond comparison the truer and more +respectable man of the two. + +Richard was now sixteen years of age, and married Anne of Bohemia, an +excellent princess, who was called ‘the good Queen Anne.’ She deserved +a better husband; for the King had been fawned and flattered into a +treacherous, wasteful, dissolute, bad young man. + +There were two Popes at this time (as if one were not enough!), and +their quarrels involved Europe in a great deal of trouble. Scotland was +still troublesome too; and at home there was much jealousy and +distrust, and plotting and counter-plotting, because the King feared +the ambition of his relations, and particularly of his uncle, the Duke +of Lancaster, and the duke had his party against the King, and the King +had his party against the duke. Nor were these home troubles lessened +when the duke went to Castile to urge his claim to the crown of that +kingdom; for then the Duke of Gloucester, another of Richard’s uncles, +opposed him, and influenced the Parliament to demand the dismissal of +the King’s favourite ministers. The King said in reply, that he would +not for such men dismiss the meanest servant in his kitchen. But, it +had begun to signify little what a King said when a Parliament was +determined; so Richard was at last obliged to give way, and to agree to +another Government of the kingdom, under a commission of fourteen +nobles, for a year. His uncle of Gloucester was at the head of this +commission, and, in fact, appointed everybody composing it. + +Having done all this, the King declared as soon as he saw an +opportunity that he had never meant to do it, and that it was all +illegal; and he got the judges secretly to sign a declaration to that +effect. The secret oozed out directly, and was carried to the Duke of +Gloucester. The Duke of Gloucester, at the head of forty thousand men, +met the King on his entering into London to enforce his authority; the +King was helpless against him; his favourites and ministers were +impeached and were mercilessly executed. Among them were two men whom +the people regarded with very different feelings; one, Robert +Tresilian, Chief Justice, who was hated for having made what was called +‘the bloody circuit’ to try the rioters; the other, Sir Simon Burley, +an honourable knight, who had been the dear friend of the Black Prince, +and the governor and guardian of the King. For this gentleman’s life +the good Queen even begged of Gloucester on her knees; but Gloucester +(with or without reason) feared and hated him, and replied, that if she +valued her husband’s crown, she had better beg no more. All this was +done under what was called by some the wonderful—and by others, with +better reason, the merciless—Parliament. + +But Gloucester’s power was not to last for ever. He held it for only a +year longer; in which year the famous battle of Otterbourne, sung in +the old ballad of Chevy Chase, was fought. When the year was out, the +King, turning suddenly to Gloucester, in the midst of a great council +said, ‘Uncle, how old am I?’ ‘Your highness,’ returned the Duke, ‘is in +your twenty-second year.’ ‘Am I so much?’ said the King; ‘then I will +manage my own affairs! I am much obliged to you, my good lords, for +your past services, but I need them no more.’ He followed this up, by +appointing a new Chancellor and a new Treasurer, and announced to the +people that he had resumed the Government. He held it for eight years +without opposition. Through all that time, he kept his determination to +revenge himself some day upon his uncle Gloucester, in his own breast. + +At last the good Queen died, and then the King, desiring to take a +second wife, proposed to his council that he should marry Isabella, of +France, the daughter of Charles the Sixth: who, the French courtiers +said (as the English courtiers had said of Richard), was a marvel of +beauty and wit, and quite a phenomenon—of seven years old. The council +were divided about this marriage, but it took place. It secured peace +between England and France for a quarter of a century; but it was +strongly opposed to the prejudices of the English people. The Duke of +Gloucester, who was anxious to take the occasion of making himself +popular, declaimed against it loudly, and this at length decided the +King to execute the vengeance he had been nursing so long. + +He went with a gay company to the Duke of Gloucester’s house, Pleshey +Castle, in Essex, where the Duke, suspecting nothing, came out into the +court-yard to receive his royal visitor. While the King conversed in a +friendly manner with the Duchess, the Duke was quietly seized, hurried +away, shipped for Calais, and lodged in the castle there. His friends, +the Earls of Arundel and Warwick, were taken in the same treacherous +manner, and confined to their castles. A few days after, at Nottingham, +they were impeached of high treason. The Earl of Arundel was condemned +and beheaded, and the Earl of Warwick was banished. Then, a writ was +sent by a messenger to the Governor of Calais, requiring him to send +the Duke of Gloucester over to be tried. In three days he returned an +answer that he could not do that, because the Duke of Gloucester had +died in prison. The Duke was declared a traitor, his property was +confiscated to the King, a real or pretended confession he had made in +prison to one of the Justices of the Common Pleas was produced against +him, and there was an end of the matter. How the unfortunate duke died, +very few cared to know. Whether he really died naturally; whether he +killed himself; whether, by the King’s order, he was strangled, or +smothered between two beds (as a serving-man of the Governor’s named +Hall, did afterwards declare), cannot be discovered. There is not much +doubt that he was killed, somehow or other, by his nephew’s orders. +Among the most active nobles in these proceedings were the King’s +cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, whom the King had made Duke of Hereford to +smooth down the old family quarrels, and some others: who had in the +family-plotting times done just such acts themselves as they now +condemned in the duke. They seem to have been a corrupt set of men; but +such men were easily found about the court in such days. + +The people murmured at all this, and were still very sore about the +French marriage. The nobles saw how little the King cared for law, and +how crafty he was, and began to be somewhat afraid for themselves. The +King’s life was a life of continued feasting and excess; his retinue, +down to the meanest servants, were dressed in the most costly manner, +and caroused at his tables, it is related, to the number of ten +thousand persons every day. He himself, surrounded by a body of ten +thousand archers, and enriched by a duty on wool which the Commons had +granted him for life, saw no danger of ever being otherwise than +powerful and absolute, and was as fierce and haughty as a King could +be. + +He had two of his old enemies left, in the persons of the Dukes of +Hereford and Norfolk. Sparing these no more than the others, he +tampered with the Duke of Hereford until he got him to declare before +the Council that the Duke of Norfolk had lately held some treasonable +talk with him, as he was riding near Brentford; and that he had told +him, among other things, that he could not believe the King’s +oath—which nobody could, I should think. For this treachery he obtained +a pardon, and the Duke of Norfolk was summoned to appear and defend +himself. As he denied the charge and said his accuser was a liar and a +traitor, both noblemen, according to the manner of those times, were +held in custody, and the truth was ordered to be decided by wager of +battle at Coventry. This wager of battle meant that whosoever won the +combat was to be considered in the right; which nonsense meant in +effect, that no strong man could ever be wrong. A great holiday was +made; a great crowd assembled, with much parade and show; and the two +combatants were about to rush at each other with their lances, when the +King, sitting in a pavilion to see fair, threw down the truncheon he +carried in his hand, and forbade the battle. The Duke of Hereford was +to be banished for ten years, and the Duke of Norfolk was to be +banished for life. So said the King. The Duke of Hereford went to +France, and went no farther. The Duke of Norfolk made a pilgrimage to +the Holy Land, and afterwards died at Venice of a broken heart. + +Faster and fiercer, after this, the King went on in his career. The +Duke of Lancaster, who was the father of the Duke of Hereford, died +soon after the departure of his son; and, the King, although he had +solemnly granted to that son leave to inherit his father’s property, if +it should come to him during his banishment, immediately seized it all, +like a robber. The judges were so afraid of him, that they disgraced +themselves by declaring this theft to be just and lawful. His avarice +knew no bounds. He outlawed seventeen counties at once, on a frivolous +pretence, merely to raise money by way of fines for misconduct. In +short, he did as many dishonest things as he could; and cared so little +for the discontent of his subjects—though even the spaniel favourites +began to whisper to him that there was such a thing as discontent +afloat—that he took that time, of all others, for leaving England and +making an expedition against the Irish. + +He was scarcely gone, leaving the Duke of York Regent in his absence, +when his cousin, Henry of Hereford, came over from France to claim the +rights of which he had been so monstrously deprived. He was immediately +joined by the two great Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland; and +his uncle, the Regent, finding the King’s cause unpopular, and the +disinclination of the army to act against Henry, very strong, withdrew +with the Royal forces towards Bristol. Henry, at the head of an army, +came from Yorkshire (where he had landed) to London and followed him. +They joined their forces—how they brought that about, is not distinctly +understood—and proceeded to Bristol Castle, whither three noblemen had +taken the young Queen. The castle surrendering, they presently put +those three noblemen to death. The Regent then remained there, and +Henry went on to Chester. + +All this time, the boisterous weather had prevented the King from +receiving intelligence of what had occurred. At length it was conveyed +to him in Ireland, and he sent over the Earl of Salisbury, who, landing +at Conway, rallied the Welshmen, and waited for the King a whole +fortnight; at the end of that time the Welshmen, who were perhaps not +very warm for him in the beginning, quite cooled down and went home. +When the King did land on the coast at last, he came with a pretty good +power, but his men cared nothing for him, and quickly deserted. +Supposing the Welshmen to be still at Conway, he disguised himself as a +priest, and made for that place in company with his two brothers and +some few of their adherents. But, there were no Welshmen left—only +Salisbury and a hundred soldiers. In this distress, the King’s two +brothers, Exeter and Surrey, offered to go to Henry to learn what his +intentions were. Surrey, who was true to Richard, was put into prison. +Exeter, who was false, took the royal badge, which was a hart, off his +shield, and assumed the rose, the badge of Henry. After this, it was +pretty plain to the King what Henry’s intentions were, without sending +any more messengers to ask. + +The fallen King, thus deserted—hemmed in on all sides, and pressed with +hunger—rode here and rode there, and went to this castle, and went to +that castle, endeavouring to obtain some provisions, but could find +none. He rode wretchedly back to Conway, and there surrendered himself +to the Earl of Northumberland, who came from Henry, in reality to take +him prisoner, but in appearance to offer terms; and whose men were +hidden not far off. By this earl he was conducted to the castle of +Flint, where his cousin Henry met him, and dropped on his knee as if he +were still respectful to his sovereign. + +‘Fair cousin of Lancaster,’ said the King, ‘you are very welcome’ (very +welcome, no doubt; but he would have been more so, in chains or without +a head). + +‘My lord,’ replied Henry, ‘I am come a little before my time; but, with +your good pleasure, I will show you the reason. Your people complain +with some bitterness, that you have ruled them rigorously for +two-and-twenty years. Now, if it please God, I will help you to govern +them better in future.’ + +‘Fair cousin,’ replied the abject King, ‘since it pleaseth you, it +pleaseth me mightily.’ + +After this, the trumpets sounded, and the King was stuck on a wretched +horse, and carried prisoner to Chester, where he was made to issue a +proclamation, calling a Parliament. From Chester he was taken on +towards London. At Lichfield he tried to escape by getting out of a +window and letting himself down into a garden; it was all in vain, +however, and he was carried on and shut up in the Tower, where no one +pitied him, and where the whole people, whose patience he had quite +tired out, reproached him without mercy. Before he got there, it is +related, that his very dog left him and departed from his side to lick +the hand of Henry. + +The day before the Parliament met, a deputation went to this wrecked +King, and told him that he had promised the Earl of Northumberland at +Conway Castle to resign the crown. He said he was quite ready to do it, +and signed a paper in which he renounced his authority and absolved his +people from their allegiance to him. He had so little spirit left that +he gave his royal ring to his triumphant cousin Henry with his own +hand, and said, that if he could have had leave to appoint a successor, +that same Henry was the man of all others whom he would have named. +Next day, the Parliament assembled in Westminster Hall, where Henry sat +at the side of the throne, which was empty and covered with a cloth of +gold. The paper just signed by the King was read to the multitude amid +shouts of joy, which were echoed through all the streets; when some of +the noise had died away, the King was formally deposed. Then Henry +arose, and, making the sign of the cross on his forehead and breast, +challenged the realm of England as his right; the archbishops of +Canterbury and York seated him on the throne. + +The multitude shouted again, and the shouts re-echoed throughout all +the streets. No one remembered, now, that Richard the Second had ever +been the most beautiful, the wisest, and the best of princes; and he +now made living (to my thinking) a far more sorry spectacle in the +Tower of London, than Wat Tyler had made, lying dead, among the hoofs +of the royal horses in Smithfield. + +The Poll-tax died with Wat. The Smiths to the King and Royal Family, +could make no chains in which the King could hang the people’s +recollection of him; so the Poll-tax was never collected. + + + + +CHAPTER XX +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FOURTH, CALLED BOLINGBROKE + + +During the last reign, the preaching of Wickliffe against the pride and +cunning of the Pope and all his men, had made a great noise in England. +Whether the new King wished to be in favour with the priests, or +whether he hoped, by pretending to be very religious, to cheat Heaven +itself into the belief that he was not a usurper, I don’t know. Both +suppositions are likely enough. It is certain that he began his reign +by making a strong show against the followers of Wickliffe, who were +called Lollards, or heretics—although his father, John of Gaunt, had +been of that way of thinking, as he himself had been more than +suspected of being. It is no less certain that he first established in +England the detestable and atrocious custom, brought from abroad, of +burning those people as a punishment for their opinions. It was the +importation into England of one of the practices of what was called the +Holy Inquisition: which was the most _un_holy and the most infamous +tribunal that ever disgraced mankind, and made men more like demons +than followers of Our Saviour. + +No real right to the crown, as you know, was in this King. Edward +Mortimer, the young Earl of March—who was only eight or nine years old, +and who was descended from the Duke of Clarence, the elder brother of +Henry’s father—was, by succession, the real heir to the throne. +However, the King got his son declared Prince of Wales; and, obtaining +possession of the young Earl of March and his little brother, kept them +in confinement (but not severely) in Windsor Castle. He then required +the Parliament to decide what was to be done with the deposed King, who +was quiet enough, and who only said that he hoped his cousin Henry +would be ‘a good lord’ to him. The Parliament replied that they would +recommend his being kept in some secret place where the people could +not resort, and where his friends could not be admitted to see him. +Henry accordingly passed this sentence upon him, and it now began to be +pretty clear to the nation that Richard the Second would not live very +long. + +It was a noisy Parliament, as it was an unprincipled one, and the Lords +quarrelled so violently among themselves as to which of them had been +loyal and which disloyal, and which consistent and which inconsistent, +that forty gauntlets are said to have been thrown upon the floor at one +time as challenges to as many battles: the truth being that they were +all false and base together, and had been, at one time with the old +King, and at another time with the new one, and seldom true for any +length of time to any one. They soon began to plot again. A conspiracy +was formed to invite the King to a tournament at Oxford, and then to +take him by surprise and kill him. This murderous enterprise, which was +agreed upon at secret meetings in the house of the Abbot of +Westminster, was betrayed by the Earl of Rutland—one of the +conspirators. The King, instead of going to the tournament or staying +at Windsor (where the conspirators suddenly went, on finding themselves +discovered, with the hope of seizing him), retired to London, +proclaimed them all traitors, and advanced upon them with a great +force. They retired into the west of England, proclaiming Richard King; +but, the people rose against them, and they were all slain. Their +treason hastened the death of the deposed monarch. Whether he was +killed by hired assassins, or whether he was starved to death, or +whether he refused food on hearing of his brothers being killed (who +were in that plot), is very doubtful. He met his death somehow; and his +body was publicly shown at St. Paul’s Cathedral with only the lower +part of the face uncovered. I can scarcely doubt that he was killed by +the King’s orders. + +The French wife of the miserable Richard was now only ten years old; +and, when her father, Charles of France, heard of her misfortunes and +of her lonely condition in England, he went mad: as he had several +times done before, during the last five or six years. The French Dukes +of Burgundy and Bourbon took up the poor girl’s cause, without caring +much about it, but on the chance of getting something out of England. +The people of Bordeaux, who had a sort of superstitious attachment to +the memory of Richard, because he was born there, swore by the Lord +that he had been the best man in all his kingdom—which was going rather +far—and promised to do great things against the English. Nevertheless, +when they came to consider that they, and the whole people of France, +were ruined by their own nobles, and that the English rule was much the +better of the two, they cooled down again; and the two dukes, although +they were very great men, could do nothing without them. Then, began +negotiations between France and England for the sending home to Paris +of the poor little Queen with all her jewels and her fortune of two +hundred thousand francs in gold. The King was quite willing to restore +the young lady, and even the jewels; but he said he really could not +part with the money. So, at last she was safely deposited at Paris +without her fortune, and then the Duke of Burgundy (who was cousin to +the French King) began to quarrel with the Duke of Orleans (who was +brother to the French King) about the whole matter; and those two dukes +made France even more wretched than ever. + +As the idea of conquering Scotland was still popular at home, the King +marched to the river Tyne and demanded homage of the King of that +country. This being refused, he advanced to Edinburgh, but did little +there; for, his army being in want of provisions, and the Scotch being +very careful to hold him in check without giving battle, he was obliged +to retire. It is to his immortal honour that in this sally he burnt no +villages and slaughtered no people, but was particularly careful that +his army should be merciful and harmless. It was a great example in +those ruthless times. + +A war among the border people of England and Scotland went on for +twelve months, and then the Earl of Northumberland, the nobleman who +had helped Henry to the crown, began to rebel against him—probably +because nothing that Henry could do for him would satisfy his +extravagant expectations. There was a certain Welsh gentleman, named +Owen Glendower, who had been a student in one of the Inns of Court, and +had afterwards been in the service of the late King, whose Welsh +property was taken from him by a powerful lord related to the present +King, who was his neighbour. Appealing for redress, and getting none, +he took up arms, was made an outlaw, and declared himself sovereign of +Wales. He pretended to be a magician; and not only were the Welsh +people stupid enough to believe him, but, even Henry believed him too; +for, making three expeditions into Wales, and being three times driven +back by the wildness of the country, the bad weather, and the skill of +Glendower, he thought he was defeated by the Welshman’s magic arts. +However, he took Lord Grey and Sir Edmund Mortimer, prisoners, and +allowed the relatives of Lord Grey to ransom him, but would not extend +such favour to Sir Edmund Mortimer. Now, Henry Percy, called Hotspur, +son of the Earl of Northumberland, who was married to Mortimer’s +sister, is supposed to have taken offence at this; and, therefore, in +conjunction with his father and some others, to have joined Owen +Glendower, and risen against Henry. It is by no means clear that this +was the real cause of the conspiracy; but perhaps it was made the +pretext. It was formed, and was very powerful; including Scroop, +Archbishop of York, and the Earl of Douglas, a powerful and brave +Scottish nobleman. The King was prompt and active, and the two armies +met at Shrewsbury. + +There were about fourteen thousand men in each. The old Earl of +Northumberland being sick, the rebel forces were led by his son. The +King wore plain armour to deceive the enemy; and four noblemen, with +the same object, wore the royal arms. The rebel charge was so furious, +that every one of those gentlemen was killed, the royal standard was +beaten down, and the young Prince of Wales was severely wounded in the +face. But he was one of the bravest and best soldiers that ever lived, +and he fought so well, and the King’s troops were so encouraged by his +bold example, that they rallied immediately, and cut the enemy’s forces +all to pieces. Hotspur was killed by an arrow in the brain, and the +rout was so complete that the whole rebellion was struck down by this +one blow. The Earl of Northumberland surrendered himself soon after +hearing of the death of his son, and received a pardon for all his +offences. + +There were some lingerings of rebellion yet: Owen Glendower being +retired to Wales, and a preposterous story being spread among the +ignorant people that King Richard was still alive. How they could have +believed such nonsense it is difficult to imagine; but they certainly +did suppose that the Court fool of the late King, who was something +like him, was he, himself; so that it seemed as if, after giving so +much trouble to the country in his life, he was still to trouble it +after his death. This was not the worst. The young Earl of March and +his brother were stolen out of Windsor Castle. Being retaken, and being +found to have been spirited away by one Lady Spencer, she accused her +own brother, that Earl of Rutland who was in the former conspiracy and +was now Duke of York, of being in the plot. For this he was ruined in +fortune, though not put to death; and then another plot arose among the +old Earl of Northumberland, some other lords, and that same Scroop, +Archbishop of York, who was with the rebels before. These conspirators +caused a writing to be posted on the church doors, accusing the King of +a variety of crimes; but, the King being eager and vigilant to oppose +them, they were all taken, and the Archbishop was executed. This was +the first time that a great churchman had been slain by the law in +England; but the King was resolved that it should be done, and done it +was. + +The next most remarkable event of this time was the seizure, by Henry, +of the heir to the Scottish throne—James, a boy of nine years old. He +had been put aboard-ship by his father, the Scottish King Robert, to +save him from the designs of his uncle, when, on his way to France, he +was accidentally taken by some English cruisers. He remained a prisoner +in England for nineteen years, and became in his prison a student and a +famous poet. + +With the exception of occasional troubles with the Welsh and with the +French, the rest of King Henry’s reign was quiet enough. But, the King +was far from happy, and probably was troubled in his conscience by +knowing that he had usurped the crown, and had occasioned the death of +his miserable cousin. The Prince of Wales, though brave and generous, +is said to have been wild and dissipated, and even to have drawn his +sword on Gascoigne, the Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, because he +was firm in dealing impartially with one of his dissolute companions. +Upon this the Chief Justice is said to have ordered him immediately to +prison; the Prince of Wales is said to have submitted with a good +grace; and the King is said to have exclaimed, ‘Happy is the monarch +who has so just a judge, and a son so willing to obey the laws.’ This +is all very doubtful, and so is another story (of which Shakespeare has +made beautiful use), that the Prince once took the crown out of his +father’s chamber as he was sleeping, and tried it on his own head. + +The King’s health sank more and more, and he became subject to violent +eruptions on the face and to bad epileptic fits, and his spirits sank +every day. At last, as he was praying before the shrine of St. Edward +at Westminster Abbey, he was seized with a terrible fit, and was +carried into the Abbot’s chamber, where he presently died. It had been +foretold that he would die at Jerusalem, which certainly is not, and +never was, Westminster. But, as the Abbot’s room had long been called +the Jerusalem chamber, people said it was all the same thing, and were +quite satisfied with the prediction. + +The King died on the 20th of March, 1413, in the forty-seventh year of +his age, and the fourteenth of his reign. He was buried in Canterbury +Cathedral. He had been twice married, and had, by his first wife, a +family of four sons and two daughters. Considering his duplicity before +he came to the throne, his unjust seizure of it, and above all, his +making that monstrous law for the burning of what the priests called +heretics, he was a reasonably good king, as kings went. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE FIFTH + +FIRST PART + +The Prince of Wales began his reign like a generous and honest man. He +set the young Earl of March free; he restored their estates and their +honours to the Percy family, who had lost them by their rebellion +against his father; he ordered the imbecile and unfortunate Richard to +be honourably buried among the Kings of England; and he dismissed all +his wild companions, with assurances that they should not want, if they +would resolve to be steady, faithful, and true. + +It is much easier to burn men than to burn their opinions; and those of +the Lollards were spreading every day. The Lollards were represented by +the priests—probably falsely for the most part—to entertain treasonable +designs against the new King; and Henry, suffering himself to be worked +upon by these representations, sacrificed his friend Sir John +Oldcastle, the Lord Cobham, to them, after trying in vain to convert +him by arguments. He was declared guilty, as the head of the sect, and +sentenced to the flames; but he escaped from the Tower before the day +of execution (postponed for fifty days by the King himself), and +summoned the Lollards to meet him near London on a certain day. So the +priests told the King, at least. I doubt whether there was any +conspiracy beyond such as was got up by their agents. On the day +appointed, instead of five-and-twenty thousand men, under the command +of Sir John Oldcastle, in the meadows of St. Giles, the King found only +eighty men, and no Sir John at all. There was, in another place, an +addle-headed brewer, who had gold trappings to his horses, and a pair +of gilt spurs in his breast—expecting to be made a knight next day by +Sir John, and so to gain the right to wear them—but there was no Sir +John, nor did anybody give information respecting him, though the King +offered great rewards for such intelligence. Thirty of these +unfortunate Lollards were hanged and drawn immediately, and were then +burnt, gallows and all; and the various prisons in and around London +were crammed full of others. Some of these unfortunate men made various +confessions of treasonable designs; but, such confessions were easily +got, under torture and the fear of fire, and are very little to be +trusted. To finish the sad story of Sir John Oldcastle at once, I may +mention that he escaped into Wales, and remained there safely, for four +years. When discovered by Lord Powis, it is very doubtful if he would +have been taken alive—so great was the old soldier’s bravery—if a +miserable old woman had not come behind him and broken his legs with a +stool. He was carried to London in a horse-litter, was fastened by an +iron chain to a gibbet, and so roasted to death. + +To make the state of France as plain as I can in a few words, I should +tell you that the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Burgundy, commonly +called ‘John without fear,’ had had a grand reconciliation of their +quarrel in the last reign, and had appeared to be quite in a heavenly +state of mind. Immediately after which, on a Sunday, in the public +streets of Paris, the Duke of Orleans was murdered by a party of twenty +men, set on by the Duke of Burgundy—according to his own deliberate +confession. The widow of King Richard had been married in France to the +eldest son of the Duke of Orleans. The poor mad King was quite +powerless to help her, and the Duke of Burgundy became the real master +of France. Isabella dying, her husband (Duke of Orleans since the death +of his father) married the daughter of the Count of Armagnac, who, +being a much abler man than his young son-in-law, headed his party; +thence called after him Armagnacs. Thus, France was now in this +terrible condition, that it had in it the party of the King’s son, the +Dauphin Louis; the party of the Duke of Burgundy, who was the father of +the Dauphin’s ill-used wife; and the party of the Armagnacs; all hating +each other; all fighting together; all composed of the most depraved +nobles that the earth has ever known; and all tearing unhappy France to +pieces. + +The late King had watched these dissensions from England, sensible +(like the French people) that no enemy of France could injure her more +than her own nobility. The present King now advanced a claim to the +French throne. His demand being, of course, refused, he reduced his +proposal to a certain large amount of French territory, and to +demanding the French princess, Catherine, in marriage, with a fortune +of two millions of golden crowns. He was offered less territory and +fewer crowns, and no princess; but he called his ambassadors home and +prepared for war. Then, he proposed to take the princess with one +million of crowns. The French Court replied that he should have the +princess with two hundred thousand crowns less; he said this would not +do (he had never seen the princess in his life), and assembled his army +at Southampton. There was a short plot at home just at that time, for +deposing him, and making the Earl of March king; but the conspirators +were all speedily condemned and executed, and the King embarked for +France. + +It is dreadful to observe how long a bad example will be followed; but, +it is encouraging to know that a good example is never thrown away. The +King’s first act on disembarking at the mouth of the river Seine, three +miles from Harfleur, was to imitate his father, and to proclaim his +solemn orders that the lives and property of the peaceable inhabitants +should be respected on pain of death. It is agreed by French writers, +to his lasting renown, that even while his soldiers were suffering the +greatest distress from want of food, these commands were rigidly +obeyed. + +With an army in all of thirty thousand men, he besieged the town of +Harfleur both by sea and land for five weeks; at the end of which time +the town surrendered, and the inhabitants were allowed to depart with +only fivepence each, and a part of their clothes. All the rest of their +possessions was divided amongst the English army. But, that army +suffered so much, in spite of its successes, from disease and +privation, that it was already reduced one half. Still, the King was +determined not to retire until he had struck a greater blow. Therefore, +against the advice of all his counsellors, he moved on with his little +force towards Calais. When he came up to the river Somme he was unable +to cross, in consequence of the fort being fortified; and, as the +English moved up the left bank of the river looking for a crossing, the +French, who had broken all the bridges, moved up the right bank, +watching them, and waiting to attack them when they should try to pass +it. At last the English found a crossing and got safely over. The +French held a council of war at Rouen, resolved to give the English +battle, and sent heralds to King Henry to know by which road he was +going. ‘By the road that will take me straight to Calais!’ said the +King, and sent them away with a present of a hundred crowns. + +The English moved on, until they beheld the French, and then the King +gave orders to form in line of battle. The French not coming on, the +army broke up after remaining in battle array till night, and got good +rest and refreshment at a neighbouring village. The French were now all +lying in another village, through which they knew the English must +pass. They were resolved that the English should begin the battle. The +English had no means of retreat, if their King had any such intention; +and so the two armies passed the night, close together. + +To understand these armies well, you must bear in mind that the immense +French army had, among its notable persons, almost the whole of that +wicked nobility, whose debauchery had made France a desert; and so +besotted were they by pride, and by contempt for the common people, +that they had scarcely any bowmen (if indeed they had any at all) in +their whole enormous number: which, compared with the English army, was +at least as six to one. For these proud fools had said that the bow was +not a fit weapon for knightly hands, and that France must be defended +by gentlemen only. We shall see, presently, what hand the gentlemen +made of it. + +Now, on the English side, among the little force, there was a good +proportion of men who were not gentlemen by any means, but who were +good stout archers for all that. Among them, in the morning—having +slept little at night, while the French were carousing and making sure +of victory—the King rode, on a grey horse; wearing on his head a helmet +of shining steel, surmounted by a crown of gold, sparkling with +precious stones; and bearing over his armour, embroidered together, the +arms of England and the arms of France. The archers looked at the +shining helmet and the crown of gold and the sparkling jewels, and +admired them all; but, what they admired most was the King’s cheerful +face, and his bright blue eye, as he told them that, for himself, he +had made up his mind to conquer there or to die there, and that England +should never have a ransom to pay for _him_. There was one brave knight +who chanced to say that he wished some of the many gallant gentlemen +and good soldiers, who were then idle at home in England, were there to +increase their numbers. But the King told him that, for his part, he +did not wish for one more man. ‘The fewer we have,’ said he, ‘the +greater will be the honour we shall win!’ His men, being now all in +good heart, were refreshed with bread and wine, and heard prayers, and +waited quietly for the French. The King waited for the French, because +they were drawn up thirty deep (the little English force was only three +deep), on very difficult and heavy ground; and he knew that when they +moved, there must be confusion among them. + +As they did not move, he sent off two parties:—one to lie concealed in +a wood on the left of the French: the other, to set fire to some houses +behind the French after the battle should be begun. This was scarcely +done, when three of the proud French gentlemen, who were to defend +their country without any help from the base peasants, came riding out, +calling upon the English to surrender. The King warned those gentlemen +himself to retire with all speed if they cared for their lives, and +ordered the English banners to advance. Upon that, Sir Thomas +Erpingham, a great English general, who commanded the archers, threw +his truncheon into the air, joyfully, and all the English men, kneeling +down upon the ground and biting it as if they took possession of the +country, rose up with a great shout and fell upon the French. + +Every archer was furnished with a great stake tipped with iron; and his +orders were, to thrust this stake into the ground, to discharge his +arrow, and then to fall back, when the French horsemen came on. As the +haughty French gentlemen, who were to break the English archers and +utterly destroy them with their knightly lances, came riding up, they +were received with such a blinding storm of arrows, that they broke and +turned. Horses and men rolled over one another, and the confusion was +terrific. Those who rallied and charged the archers got among the +stakes on slippery and boggy ground, and were so bewildered that the +English archers—who wore no armour, and even took off their leathern +coats to be more active—cut them to pieces, root and branch. Only three +French horsemen got within the stakes, and those were instantly +despatched. All this time the dense French army, being in armour, were +sinking knee-deep into the mire; while the light English archers, +half-naked, were as fresh and active as if they were fighting on a +marble floor. + +But now, the second division of the French coming to the relief of the +first, closed up in a firm mass; the English, headed by the King, +attacked them; and the deadliest part of the battle began. The King’s +brother, the Duke of Clarence, was struck down, and numbers of the +French surrounded him; but, King Henry, standing over the body, fought +like a lion until they were beaten off. + +Presently, came up a band of eighteen French knights, bearing the +banner of a certain French lord, who had sworn to kill or take the +English King. One of them struck him such a blow with a battle-axe that +he reeled and fell upon his knees; but, his faithful men, immediately +closing round him, killed every one of those eighteen knights, and so +that French lord never kept his oath. + +The French Duke of Alençon, seeing this, made a desperate charge, and +cut his way close up to the Royal Standard of England. He beat down the +Duke of York, who was standing near it; and, when the King came to his +rescue, struck off a piece of the crown he wore. But, he never struck +another blow in this world; for, even as he was in the act of saying +who he was, and that he surrendered to the King; and even as the King +stretched out his hand to give him a safe and honourable acceptance of +the offer; he fell dead, pierced by innumerable wounds. + +The death of this nobleman decided the battle. The third division of +the French army, which had never struck a blow yet, and which was, in +itself, more than double the whole English power, broke and fled. At +this time of the fight, the English, who as yet had made no prisoners, +began to take them in immense numbers, and were still occupied in doing +so, or in killing those who would not surrender, when a great noise +arose in the rear of the French—their flying banners were seen to +stop—and King Henry, supposing a great reinforcement to have arrived, +gave orders that all the prisoners should be put to death. As soon, +however, as it was found that the noise was only occasioned by a body +of plundering peasants, the terrible massacre was stopped. + +Then King Henry called to him the French herald, and asked him to whom +the victory belonged. + +The herald replied, ‘To the King of England.’ + +‘_We_ have not made this havoc and slaughter,’ said the King. ‘It is +the wrath of Heaven on the sins of France. What is the name of that +castle yonder?’ + +The herald answered him, ‘My lord, it is the castle of Azincourt.’ Said +the King, ‘From henceforth this battle shall be known to posterity, by +the name of the battle of Azincourt.’ + +Our English historians have made it Agincourt; but, under that name, it +will ever be famous in English annals. + +The loss upon the French side was enormous. Three Dukes were killed, +two more were taken prisoners, seven Counts were killed, three more +were taken prisoners, and ten thousand knights and gentlemen were slain +upon the field. The English loss amounted to sixteen hundred men, among +whom were the Duke of York and the Earl of Suffolk. + +War is a dreadful thing; and it is appalling to know how the English +were obliged, next morning, to kill those prisoners mortally wounded, +who yet writhed in agony upon the ground; how the dead upon the French +side were stripped by their own countrymen and countrywomen, and +afterwards buried in great pits; how the dead upon the English side +were piled up in a great barn, and how their bodies and the barn were +all burned together. It is in such things, and in many more much too +horrible to relate, that the real desolation and wickedness of war +consist. Nothing can make war otherwise than horrible. But the dark +side of it was little thought of and soon forgotten; and it cast no +shade of trouble on the English people, except on those who had lost +friends or relations in the fight. They welcomed their King home with +shouts of rejoicing, and plunged into the water to bear him ashore on +their shoulders, and flocked out in crowds to welcome him in every town +through which he passed, and hung rich carpets and tapestries out of +the windows, and strewed the streets with flowers, and made the +fountains run with wine, as the great field of Agincourt had run with +blood. + +SECOND PART + +That proud and wicked French nobility who dragged their country to +destruction, and who were every day and every year regarded with deeper +hatred and detestation in the hearts of the French people, learnt +nothing, even from the defeat of Agincourt. So far from uniting against +the common enemy, they became, among themselves, more violent, more +bloody, and more false—if that were possible—than they had been before. +The Count of Armagnac persuaded the French king to plunder of her +treasures Queen Isabella of Bavaria, and to make her a prisoner. She, +who had hitherto been the bitter enemy of the Duke of Burgundy, +proposed to join him, in revenge. He carried her off to Troyes, where +she proclaimed herself Regent of France, and made him her lieutenant. +The Armagnac party were at that time possessed of Paris; but, one of +the gates of the city being secretly opened on a certain night to a +party of the duke’s men, they got into Paris, threw into the prisons +all the Armagnacs upon whom they could lay their hands, and, a few +nights afterwards, with the aid of a furious mob of sixty thousand +people, broke the prisons open, and killed them all. The former Dauphin +was now dead, and the King’s third son bore the title. Him, in the +height of this murderous scene, a French knight hurried out of bed, +wrapped in a sheet, and bore away to Poitiers. So, when the revengeful +Isabella and the Duke of Burgundy entered Paris in triumph after the +slaughter of their enemies, the Dauphin was proclaimed at Poitiers as +the real Regent. + +King Henry had not been idle since his victory of Agincourt, but had +repulsed a brave attempt of the French to recover Harfleur; had +gradually conquered a great part of Normandy; and, at this crisis of +affairs, took the important town of Rouen, after a siege of half a +year. This great loss so alarmed the French, that the Duke of Burgundy +proposed that a meeting to treat of peace should be held between the +French and the English kings in a plain by the river Seine. On the +appointed day, King Henry appeared there, with his two brothers, +Clarence and Gloucester, and a thousand men. The unfortunate French +King, being more mad than usual that day, could not come; but the Queen +came, and with her the Princess Catherine: who was a very lovely +creature, and who made a real impression on King Henry, now that he saw +her for the first time. This was the most important circumstance that +arose out of the meeting. + +As if it were impossible for a French nobleman of that time to be true +to his word of honour in anything, Henry discovered that the Duke of +Burgundy was, at that very moment, in secret treaty with the Dauphin; +and he therefore abandoned the negotiation. + +The Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, each of whom with the best reason +distrusted the other as a noble ruffian surrounded by a party of noble +ruffians, were rather at a loss how to proceed after this; but, at +length they agreed to meet, on a bridge over the river Yonne, where it +was arranged that there should be two strong gates put up, with an +empty space between them; and that the Duke of Burgundy should come +into that space by one gate, with ten men only; and that the Dauphin +should come into that space by the other gate, also with ten men, and +no more. + +So far the Dauphin kept his word, but no farther. When the Duke of +Burgundy was on his knee before him in the act of speaking, one of the +Dauphin’s noble ruffians cut the said duke down with a small axe, and +others speedily finished him. + +It was in vain for the Dauphin to pretend that this base murder was not +done with his consent; it was too bad, even for France, and caused a +general horror. The duke’s heir hastened to make a treaty with King +Henry, and the French Queen engaged that her husband should consent to +it, whatever it was. Henry made peace, on condition of receiving the +Princess Catherine in marriage, and being made Regent of France during +the rest of the King’s lifetime, and succeeding to the French crown at +his death. He was soon married to the beautiful Princess, and took her +proudly home to England, where she was crowned with great honour and +glory. + +This peace was called the Perpetual Peace; we shall soon see how long +it lasted. It gave great satisfaction to the French people, although +they were so poor and miserable, that, at the time of the celebration +of the Royal marriage, numbers of them were dying with starvation, on +the dunghills in the streets of Paris. There was some resistance on the +part of the Dauphin in some few parts of France, but King Henry beat it +all down. + +And now, with his great possessions in France secured, and his +beautiful wife to cheer him, and a son born to give him greater +happiness, all appeared bright before him. But, in the fulness of his +triumph and the height of his power, Death came upon him, and his day +was done. When he fell ill at Vincennes, and found that he could not +recover, he was very calm and quiet, and spoke serenely to those who +wept around his bed. His wife and child, he said, he left to the loving +care of his brother the Duke of Bedford, and his other faithful nobles. +He gave them his advice that England should establish a friendship with +the new Duke of Burgundy, and offer him the regency of France; that it +should not set free the royal princes who had been taken at Agincourt; +and that, whatever quarrel might arise with France, England should +never make peace without holding Normandy. Then, he laid down his head, +and asked the attendant priests to chant the penitential psalms. Amid +which solemn sounds, on the thirty-first of August, one thousand four +hundred and twenty-two, in only the thirty-fourth year of his age and +the tenth of his reign, King Henry the Fifth passed away. + +Slowly and mournfully they carried his embalmed body in a procession of +great state to Paris, and thence to Rouen where his Queen was: from +whom the sad intelligence of his death was concealed until he had been +dead some days. Thence, lying on a bed of crimson and gold, with a +golden crown upon the head, and a golden ball and sceptre lying in the +nerveless hands, they carried it to Calais, with such a great retinue +as seemed to dye the road black. The King of Scotland acted as chief +mourner, all the Royal Household followed, the knights wore black +armour and black plumes of feathers, crowds of men bore torches, making +the night as light as day; and the widowed Princess followed last of +all. At Calais there was a fleet of ships to bring the funeral host to +Dover. And so, by way of London Bridge, where the service for the dead +was chanted as it passed along, they brought the body to Westminster +Abbey, and there buried it with great respect. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SIXTH + +PART THE FIRST + +It had been the wish of the late King, that while his infant son King +Henry the Sixth, at this time only nine months old, was under age, the +Duke of Gloucester should be appointed Regent. The English Parliament, +however, preferred to appoint a Council of Regency, with the Duke of +Bedford at its head: to be represented, in his absence only, by the +Duke of Gloucester. The Parliament would seem to have been wise in +this, for Gloucester soon showed himself to be ambitious and +troublesome, and, in the gratification of his own personal schemes, +gave dangerous offence to the Duke of Burgundy, which was with +difficulty adjusted. + +As that duke declined the Regency of France, it was bestowed by the +poor French King upon the Duke of Bedford. But, the French King dying +within two months, the Dauphin instantly asserted his claim to the +French throne, and was actually crowned under the title of Charles the +Seventh. The Duke of Bedford, to be a match for him, entered into a +friendly league with the Dukes of Burgundy and Brittany, and gave them +his two sisters in marriage. War with France was immediately renewed, +and the Perpetual Peace came to an untimely end. + +In the first campaign, the English, aided by this alliance, were +speedily successful. As Scotland, however, had sent the French five +thousand men, and might send more, or attack the North of England while +England was busy with France, it was considered that it would be a good +thing to offer the Scottish King, James, who had been so long +imprisoned, his liberty, on his paying forty thousand pounds for his +board and lodging during nineteen years, and engaging to forbid his +subjects from serving under the flag of France. It is pleasant to know, +not only that the amiable captive at last regained his freedom upon +these terms, but, that he married a noble English lady, with whom he +had been long in love, and became an excellent King. I am afraid we +have met with some Kings in this history, and shall meet with some +more, who would have been very much the better, and would have left the +world much happier, if they had been imprisoned nineteen years too. + +In the second campaign, the English gained a considerable victory at +Verneuil, in a battle which was chiefly remarkable, otherwise, for +their resorting to the odd expedient of tying their baggage-horses +together by the heads and tails, and jumbling them up with the baggage, +so as to convert them into a sort of live fortification—which was found +useful to the troops, but which I should think was not agreeable to the +horses. For three years afterwards very little was done, owing to both +sides being too poor for war, which is a very expensive entertainment; +but, a council was then held in Paris, in which it was decided to lay +siege to the town of Orleans, which was a place of great importance to +the Dauphin’s cause. An English army of ten thousand men was despatched +on this service, under the command of the Earl of Salisbury, a general +of fame. He being unfortunately killed early in the siege, the Earl of +Suffolk took his place; under whom (reinforced by Sir John Falstaff, +who brought up four hundred waggons laden with salt herrings and other +provisions for the troops, and, beating off the French who tried to +intercept him, came victorious out of a hot skirmish, which was +afterwards called in jest the Battle of the Herrings) the town of +Orleans was so completely hemmed in, that the besieged proposed to +yield it up to their countryman the Duke of Burgundy. The English +general, however, replied that his English men had won it, so far, by +their blood and valour, and that his English men must have it. There +seemed to be no hope for the town, or for the Dauphin, who was so +dismayed that he even thought of flying to Scotland or to Spain—when a +peasant girl rose up and changed the whole state of affairs. + +The story of this peasant girl I have now to tell. + +PART THE SECOND: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC + +In a remote village among some wild hills in the province of Lorraine, +there lived a countryman whose name was Jacques d’Arc. He had a +daughter, Joan of Arc, who was at this time in her twentieth year. She +had been a solitary girl from her childhood; she had often tended sheep +and cattle for whole days where no human figure was seen or human voice +heard; and she had often knelt, for hours together, in the gloomy, +empty, little village chapel, looking up at the altar and at the dim +lamp burning before it, until she fancied that she saw shadowy figures +standing there, and even that she heard them speak to her. The people +in that part of France were very ignorant and superstitious, and they +had many ghostly tales to tell about what they had dreamed, and what +they saw among the lonely hills when the clouds and the mists were +resting on them. So, they easily believed that Joan saw strange sights, +and they whispered among themselves that angels and spirits talked to +her. + +At last, Joan told her father that she had one day been surprised by a +great unearthly light, and had afterwards heard a solemn voice, which +said it was Saint Michael’s voice, telling her that she was to go and +help the Dauphin. Soon after this (she said), Saint Catherine and Saint +Margaret had appeared to her with sparkling crowns upon their heads, +and had encouraged her to be virtuous and resolute. These visions had +returned sometimes; but the Voices very often; and the voices always +said, ‘Joan, thou art appointed by Heaven to go and help the Dauphin!’ +She almost always heard them while the chapel bells were ringing. + +There is no doubt, now, that Joan believed she saw and heard these +things. It is very well known that such delusions are a disease which +is not by any means uncommon. It is probable enough that there were +figures of Saint Michael, and Saint Catherine, and Saint Margaret, in +the little chapel (where they would be very likely to have shining +crowns upon their heads), and that they first gave Joan the idea of +those three personages. She had long been a moping, fanciful girl, and, +though she was a very good girl, I dare say she was a little vain, and +wishful for notoriety. + +Her father, something wiser than his neighbours, said, ‘I tell thee, +Joan, it is thy fancy. Thou hadst better have a kind husband to take +care of thee, girl, and work to employ thy mind!’ But Joan told him in +reply, that she had taken a vow never to have a husband, and that she +must go as Heaven directed her, to help the Dauphin. + +It happened, unfortunately for her father’s persuasions, and most +unfortunately for the poor girl, too, that a party of the Dauphin’s +enemies found their way into the village while Joan’s disorder was at +this point, and burnt the chapel, and drove out the inhabitants. The +cruelties she saw committed, touched Joan’s heart and made her worse. +She said that the voices and the figures were now continually with her; +that they told her she was the girl who, according to an old prophecy, +was to deliver France; and she must go and help the Dauphin, and must +remain with him until he should be crowned at Rheims: and that she must +travel a long way to a certain lord named Baudricourt, who could and +would, bring her into the Dauphin’s presence. + +As her father still said, ‘I tell thee, Joan, it is thy fancy,’ she set +off to find out this lord, accompanied by an uncle, a poor village +wheelwright and cart-maker, who believed in the reality of her visions. +They travelled a long way and went on and on, over a rough country, +full of the Duke of Burgundy’s men, and of all kinds of robbers and +marauders, until they came to where this lord was. + +When his servants told him that there was a poor peasant girl named +Joan of Arc, accompanied by nobody but an old village wheelwright and +cart-maker, who wished to see him because she was commanded to help the +Dauphin and save France, Baudricourt burst out a-laughing, and bade +them send the girl away. But, he soon heard so much about her lingering +in the town, and praying in the churches, and seeing visions, and doing +harm to no one, that he sent for her, and questioned her. As she said +the same things after she had been well sprinkled with holy water as +she had said before the sprinkling, Baudricourt began to think there +might be something in it. At all events, he thought it worth while to +send her on to the town of Chinon, where the Dauphin was. So, he bought +her a horse, and a sword, and gave her two squires to conduct her. As +the Voices had told Joan that she was to wear a man’s dress, now, she +put one on, and girded her sword to her side, and bound spurs to her +heels, and mounted her horse and rode away with her two squires. As to +her uncle the wheelwright, he stood staring at his niece in wonder +until she was out of sight—as well he might—and then went home again. +The best place, too. + +Joan and her two squires rode on and on, until they came to Chinon, +where she was, after some doubt, admitted into the Dauphin’s presence. +Picking him out immediately from all his court, she told him that she +came commanded by Heaven to subdue his enemies and conduct him to his +coronation at Rheims. She also told him (or he pretended so afterwards, +to make the greater impression upon his soldiers) a number of his +secrets known only to himself, and, furthermore, she said there was an +old, old sword in the cathedral of Saint Catherine at Fierbois, marked +with five old crosses on the blade, which Saint Catherine had ordered +her to wear. + +[Illustration: Joan of Arc] + +Now, nobody knew anything about this old, old sword, but when the +cathedral came to be examined—which was immediately done—there, sure +enough, the sword was found! The Dauphin then required a number of +grave priests and bishops to give him their opinion whether the girl +derived her power from good spirits or from evil spirits, which they +held prodigiously long debates about, in the course of which several +learned men fell fast asleep and snored loudly. At last, when one gruff +old gentleman had said to Joan, ‘What language do your Voices speak?’ +and when Joan had replied to the gruff old gentleman, ‘A pleasanter +language than yours,’ they agreed that it was all correct, and that +Joan of Arc was inspired from Heaven. This wonderful circumstance put +new heart into the Dauphin’s soldiers when they heard of it, and +dispirited the English army, who took Joan for a witch. + +So Joan mounted horse again, and again rode on and on, until she came +to Orleans. But she rode now, as never peasant girl had ridden yet. She +rode upon a white war-horse, in a suit of glittering armour; with the +old, old sword from the cathedral, newly burnished, in her belt; with a +white flag carried before her, upon which were a picture of God, and +the words Jesus Maria. In this splendid state, at the head of a great +body of troops escorting provisions of all kinds for the starving +inhabitants of Orleans, she appeared before that beleaguered city. + +When the people on the walls beheld her, they cried out ‘The Maid is +come! The Maid of the Prophecy is come to deliver us!’ And this, and +the sight of the Maid fighting at the head of their men, made the +French so bold, and made the English so fearful, that the English line +of forts was soon broken, the troops and provisions were got into the +town, and Orleans was saved. + +Joan, henceforth called The Maid of Orleans, remained within the walls +for a few days, and caused letters to be thrown over, ordering Lord +Suffolk and his Englishmen to depart from before the town according to +the will of Heaven. As the English general very positively declined to +believe that Joan knew anything about the will of Heaven (which did not +mend the matter with his soldiers, for they stupidly said if she were +not inspired she was a witch, and it was of no use to fight against a +witch), she mounted her white war-horse again, and ordered her white +banner to advance. + +The besiegers held the bridge, and some strong towers upon the bridge; +and here the Maid of Orleans attacked them. The fight was fourteen +hours long. She planted a scaling ladder with her own hands, and +mounted a tower wall, but was struck by an English arrow in the neck, +and fell into the trench. She was carried away and the arrow was taken +out, during which operation she screamed and cried with the pain, as +any other girl might have done; but presently she said that the Voices +were speaking to her and soothing her to rest. After a while, she got +up, and was again foremost in the fight. When the English who had seen +her fall and supposed her dead, saw this, they were troubled with the +strangest fears, and some of them cried out that they beheld Saint +Michael on a white horse (probably Joan herself) fighting for the +French. They lost the bridge, and lost the towers, and next day set +their chain of forts on fire, and left the place. + +But as Lord Suffolk himself retired no farther than the town of +Jargeau, which was only a few miles off, the Maid of Orleans besieged +him there, and he was taken prisoner. As the white banner scaled the +wall, she was struck upon the head with a stone, and was again tumbled +down into the ditch; but, she only cried all the more, as she lay +there, ‘On, on, my countrymen! And fear nothing, for the Lord hath +delivered them into our hands!’ After this new success of the Maid’s, +several other fortresses and places which had previously held out +against the Dauphin were delivered up without a battle; and at Patay +she defeated the remainder of the English army, and set up her +victorious white banner on a field where twelve hundred Englishmen lay +dead. + +She now urged the Dauphin (who always kept out of the way when there +was any fighting) to proceed to Rheims, as the first part of her +mission was accomplished; and to complete the whole by being crowned +there. The Dauphin was in no particular hurry to do this, as Rheims was +a long way off, and the English and the Duke of Burgundy were still +strong in the country through which the road lay. However, they set +forth, with ten thousand men, and again the Maid of Orleans rode on and +on, upon her white war-horse, and in her shining armour. Whenever they +came to a town which yielded readily, the soldiers believed in her; +but, whenever they came to a town which gave them any trouble, they +began to murmur that she was an impostor. The latter was particularly +the case at Troyes, which finally yielded, however, through the +persuasion of one Richard, a friar of the place. Friar Richard was in +the old doubt about the Maid of Orleans, until he had sprinkled her +well with holy water, and had also well sprinkled the threshold of the +gate by which she came into the city. Finding that it made no change in +her or the gate, he said, as the other grave old gentlemen had said, +that it was all right, and became her great ally. + +So, at last, by dint of riding on and on, the Maid of Orleans, and the +Dauphin, and the ten thousand sometimes believing and sometimes +unbelieving men, came to Rheims. And in the great cathedral of Rheims, +the Dauphin actually was crowned Charles the Seventh in a great +assembly of the people. Then, the Maid, who with her white banner stood +beside the King in that hour of his triumph, kneeled down upon the +pavement at his feet, and said, with tears, that what she had been +inspired to do, was done, and that the only recompense she asked for, +was, that she should now have leave to go back to her distant home, and +her sturdily incredulous father, and her first simple escort the +village wheelwright and cart-maker. But the King said ‘No!’ and made +her and her family as noble as a King could, and settled upon her the +income of a Count. + +Ah! happy had it been for the Maid of Orleans, if she had resumed her +rustic dress that day, and had gone home to the little chapel and the +wild hills, and had forgotten all these things, and had been a good +man’s wife, and had heard no stranger voices than the voices of little +children! + +It was not to be, and she continued helping the King (she did a world +for him, in alliance with Friar Richard), and trying to improve the +lives of the coarse soldiers, and leading a religious, an unselfish, +and a modest life, herself, beyond any doubt. Still, many times she +prayed the King to let her go home; and once she even took off her +bright armour and hung it up in a church, meaning never to wear it +more. But, the King always won her back again—while she was of any use +to him—and so she went on and on and on, to her doom. + +When the Duke of Bedford, who was a very able man, began to be active +for England, and, by bringing the war back into France and by holding +the Duke of Burgundy to his faith, to distress and disturb Charles very +much, Charles sometimes asked the Maid of Orleans what the Voices said +about it? But, the Voices had become (very like ordinary voices in +perplexed times) contradictory and confused, so that now they said one +thing, and now said another, and the Maid lost credit every day. +Charles marched on Paris, which was opposed to him, and attacked the +suburb of Saint Honoré. In this fight, being again struck down into the +ditch, she was abandoned by the whole army. She lay unaided among a +heap of dead, and crawled out how she could. Then, some of her +believers went over to an opposition Maid, Catherine of La Rochelle, +who said she was inspired to tell where there were treasures of buried +money—though she never did—and then Joan accidentally broke the old, +old sword, and others said that her power was broken with it. Finally, +at the siege of Compiègne, held by the Duke of Burgundy, where she did +valiant service, she was basely left alone in a retreat, though facing +about and fighting to the last; and an archer pulled her off her horse. + +O the uproar that was made, and the thanksgivings that were sung, about +the capture of this one poor country-girl! O the way in which she was +demanded to be tried for sorcery and heresy, and anything else you +like, by the Inquisitor-General of France, and by this great man, and +by that great man, until it is wearisome to think of! She was bought at +last by the Bishop of Beauvais for ten thousand francs, and was shut up +in her narrow prison: plain Joan of Arc again, and Maid of Orleans no +more. + +I should never have done if I were to tell you how they had Joan out to +examine her, and cross-examine her, and re-examine her, and worry her +into saying anything and everything; and how all sorts of scholars and +doctors bestowed their utmost tediousness upon her. Sixteen times she +was brought out and shut up again, and worried, and entrapped, and +argued with, until she was heart-sick of the dreary business. On the +last occasion of this kind she was brought into a burial-place at +Rouen, dismally decorated with a scaffold, and a stake and faggots, and +the executioner, and a pulpit with a friar therein, and an awful sermon +ready. It is very affecting to know that even at that pass the poor +girl honoured the mean vermin of a King, who had so used her for his +purposes and so abandoned her; and, that while she had been regardless +of reproaches heaped upon herself, she spoke out courageously for him. + +It was natural in one so young to hold to life. To save her life, she +signed a declaration prepared for her—signed it with a cross, for she +couldn’t write—that all her visions and Voices had come from the Devil. +Upon her recanting the past, and protesting that she would never wear a +man’s dress in future, she was condemned to imprisonment for life, ‘on +the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction.’ + +But, on the bread of sorrow and the water of affliction, the visions +and the Voices soon returned. It was quite natural that they should do +so, for that kind of disease is much aggravated by fasting, loneliness, +and anxiety of mind. It was not only got out of Joan that she +considered herself inspired again, but, she was taken in a man’s dress, +which had been left—to entrap her—in her prison, and which she put on, +in her solitude; perhaps, in remembrance of her past glories, perhaps, +because the imaginary Voices told her. For this relapse into the +sorcery and heresy and anything else you like, she was sentenced to be +burnt to death. And, in the market-place of Rouen, in the hideous dress +which the monks had invented for such spectacles; with priests and +bishops sitting in a gallery looking on, though some had the Christian +grace to go away, unable to endure the infamous scene; this shrieking +girl—last seen amidst the smoke and fire, holding a crucifix between +her hands; last heard, calling upon Christ—was burnt to ashes. They +threw her ashes into the river Seine; but they will rise against her +murderers on the last day. + +From the moment of her capture, neither the French King nor one single +man in all his court raised a finger to save her. It is no defence of +them that they may have never really believed in her, or that they may +have won her victories by their skill and bravery. The more they +pretended to believe in her, the more they had caused her to believe in +herself; and she had ever been true to them, ever brave, ever nobly +devoted. But, it is no wonder, that they, who were in all things false +to themselves, false to one another, false to their country, false to +Heaven, false to Earth, should be monsters of ingratitude and treachery +to a helpless peasant girl. + +In the picturesque old town of Rouen, where weeds and grass grow high +on the cathedral towers, and the venerable Norman streets are still +warm in the blessed sunlight though the monkish fires that once gleamed +horribly upon them have long grown cold, there is a statue of Joan of +Arc, in the scene of her last agony, the square to which she has given +its present name. I know some statues of modern times—even in the +World’s metropolis, I think—which commemorate less constancy, less +earnestness, smaller claims upon the world’s attention, and much +greater impostors. + +PART THE THIRD + +Bad deeds seldom prosper, happily for mankind; and the English cause +gained no advantage from the cruel death of Joan of Arc. For a long +time, the war went heavily on. The Duke of Bedford died; the alliance +with the Duke of Burgundy was broken; and Lord Talbot became a great +general on the English side in France. But, two of the consequences of +wars are, Famine—because the people cannot peacefully cultivate the +ground—and Pestilence, which comes of want, misery, and suffering. Both +these horrors broke out in both countries, and lasted for two wretched +years. Then, the war went on again, and came by slow degrees to be so +badly conducted by the English government, that, within twenty years +from the execution of the Maid of Orleans, of all the great French +conquests, the town of Calais alone remained in English hands. + +While these victories and defeats were taking place in the course of +time, many strange things happened at home. The young King, as he grew +up, proved to be very unlike his great father, and showed himself a +miserable puny creature. There was no harm in him—he had a great +aversion to shedding blood: which was something—but, he was a weak, +silly, helpless young man, and a mere shuttlecock to the great lordly +battledores about the Court. + +Of these battledores, Cardinal Beaufort, a relation of the King, and +the Duke of Gloucester, were at first the most powerful. The Duke of +Gloucester had a wife, who was nonsensically accused of practising +witchcraft to cause the King’s death and lead to her husband’s coming +to the throne, he being the next heir. She was charged with having, by +the help of a ridiculous old woman named Margery (who was called a +witch), made a little waxen doll in the King’s likeness, and put it +before a slow fire that it might gradually melt away. It was supposed, +in such cases, that the death of the person whom the doll was made to +represent, was sure to happen. Whether the duchess was as ignorant as +the rest of them, and really did make such a doll with such an +intention, I don’t know; but, you and I know very well that she might +have made a thousand dolls, if she had been stupid enough, and might +have melted them all, without hurting the King or anybody else. +However, she was tried for it, and so was old Margery, and so was one +of the duke’s chaplains, who was charged with having assisted them. +Both he and Margery were put to death, and the duchess, after being +taken on foot and bearing a lighted candle, three times round the City, +as a penance, was imprisoned for life. The duke, himself, took all this +pretty quietly, and made as little stir about the matter as if he were +rather glad to be rid of the duchess. + +But, he was not destined to keep himself out of trouble long. The royal +shuttlecock being three-and-twenty, the battledores were very anxious +to get him married. The Duke of Gloucester wanted him to marry a +daughter of the Count of Armagnac; but, the Cardinal and the Earl of +Suffolk were all for Margaret, the daughter of the King of Sicily, who +they knew was a resolute, ambitious woman and would govern the King as +she chose. To make friends with this lady, the Earl of Suffolk, who +went over to arrange the match, consented to accept her for the King’s +wife without any fortune, and even to give up the two most valuable +possessions England then had in France. So, the marriage was arranged, +on terms very advantageous to the lady; and Lord Suffolk brought her to +England, and she was married at Westminster. On what pretence this +queen and her party charged the Duke of Gloucester with high treason +within a couple of years, it is impossible to make out, the matter is +so confused; but, they pretended that the King’s life was in danger, +and they took the duke prisoner. A fortnight afterwards, he was found +dead in bed (they said), and his body was shown to the people, and Lord +Suffolk came in for the best part of his estates. You know by this time +how strangely liable state prisoners were to sudden death. + +If Cardinal Beaufort had any hand in this matter, it did him no good, +for he died within six weeks; thinking it very hard and curious—at +eighty years old!—that he could not live to be Pope. + +This was the time when England had completed her loss of all her great +French conquests. The people charged the loss principally upon the Earl +of Suffolk, now a duke, who had made those easy terms about the Royal +Marriage, and who, they believed, had even been bought by France. So he +was impeached as a traitor, on a great number of charges, but chiefly +on accusations of having aided the French King, and of designing to +make his own son King of England. The Commons and the people being +violent against him, the King was made (by his friends) to interpose to +save him, by banishing him for five years, and proroguing the +Parliament. The duke had much ado to escape from a London mob, two +thousand strong, who lay in wait for him in St. Giles’s fields; but, he +got down to his own estates in Suffolk, and sailed away from Ipswich. +Sailing across the Channel, he sent into Calais to know if he might +land there; but, they kept his boat and men in the harbour, until an +English ship, carrying a hundred and fifty men and called the Nicholas +of the Tower, came alongside his little vessel, and ordered him on +board. ‘Welcome, traitor, as men say,’ was the captain’s grim and not +very respectful salutation. He was kept on board, a prisoner, for +eight-and-forty hours, and then a small boat appeared rowing toward the +ship. As this boat came nearer, it was seen to have in it a block, a +rusty sword, and an executioner in a black mask. The duke was handed +down into it, and there his head was cut off with six strokes of the +rusty sword. Then, the little boat rowed away to Dover beach, where the +body was cast out, and left until the duchess claimed it. By whom, high +in authority, this murder was committed, has never appeared. No one was +ever punished for it. + +There now arose in Kent an Irishman, who gave himself the name of +Mortimer, but whose real name was Jack Cade. Jack, in imitation of Wat +Tyler, though he was a very different and inferior sort of man, +addressed the Kentish men upon their wrongs, occasioned by the bad +government of England, among so many battledores and such a poor +shuttlecock; and the Kentish men rose up to the number of twenty +thousand. Their place of assembly was Blackheath, where, headed by +Jack, they put forth two papers, which they called ‘The Complaint of +the Commons of Kent,’ and ‘The Requests of the Captain of the Great +Assembly in Kent.’ They then retired to Sevenoaks. The royal army +coming up with them here, they beat it and killed their general. Then, +Jack dressed himself in the dead general’s armour, and led his men to +London. + +Jack passed into the City from Southwark, over the bridge, and entered +it in triumph, giving the strictest orders to his men not to plunder. +Having made a show of his forces there, while the citizens looked on +quietly, he went back into Southwark in good order, and passed the +night. Next day, he came back again, having got hold in the meantime of +Lord Say, an unpopular nobleman. Says Jack to the Lord Mayor and +judges: ‘Will you be so good as to make a tribunal in Guildhall, and +try me this nobleman?’ The court being hastily made, he was found +guilty, and Jack and his men cut his head off on Cornhill. They also +cut off the head of his son-in-law, and then went back in good order to +Southwark again. + +But, although the citizens could bear the beheading of an unpopular +lord, they could not bear to have their houses pillaged. And it did so +happen that Jack, after dinner—perhaps he had drunk a little too +much—began to plunder the house where he lodged; upon which, of course, +his men began to imitate him. Wherefore, the Londoners took counsel +with Lord Scales, who had a thousand soldiers in the Tower; and +defended London Bridge, and kept Jack and his people out. This +advantage gained, it was resolved by divers great men to divide Jack’s +army in the old way, by making a great many promises on behalf of the +state, that were never intended to be performed. This _did_ divide +them; some of Jack’s men saying that they ought to take the conditions +which were offered, and others saying that they ought not, for they +were only a snare; some going home at once; others staying where they +were; and all doubting and quarrelling among themselves. + +Jack, who was in two minds about fighting or accepting a pardon, and +who indeed did both, saw at last that there was nothing to expect from +his men, and that it was very likely some of them would deliver him up +and get a reward of a thousand marks, which was offered for his +apprehension. So, after they had travelled and quarrelled all the way +from Southwark to Blackheath, and from Blackheath to Rochester, he +mounted a good horse and galloped away into Sussex. But, there galloped +after him, on a better horse, one Alexander Iden, who came up with him, +had a hard fight with him, and killed him. Jack’s head was set aloft on +London Bridge, with the face looking towards Blackheath, where he had +raised his flag; and Alexander Iden got the thousand marks. + +It is supposed by some, that the Duke of York, who had been removed +from a high post abroad through the Queen’s influence, and sent out of +the way, to govern Ireland, was at the bottom of this rising of Jack +and his men, because he wanted to trouble the government. He claimed +(though not yet publicly) to have a better right to the throne than +Henry of Lancaster, as one of the family of the Earl of March, whom +Henry the Fourth had set aside. Touching this claim, which, being +through female relationship, was not according to the usual descent, it +is enough to say that Henry the Fourth was the free choice of the +people and the Parliament, and that his family had now reigned +undisputed for sixty years. The memory of Henry the Fifth was so +famous, and the English people loved it so much, that the Duke of +York’s claim would, perhaps, never have been thought of (it would have +been so hopeless) but for the unfortunate circumstance of the present +King’s being by this time quite an idiot, and the country very ill +governed. These two circumstances gave the Duke of York a power he +could not otherwise have had. + +Whether the Duke knew anything of Jack Cade, or not, he came over from +Ireland while Jack’s head was on London Bridge; being secretly advised +that the Queen was setting up his enemy, the Duke of Somerset, against +him. He went to Westminster, at the head of four thousand men, and on +his knees before the King, represented to him the bad state of the +country, and petitioned him to summon a Parliament to consider it. This +the King promised. When the Parliament was summoned, the Duke of York +accused the Duke of Somerset, and the Duke of Somerset accused the Duke +of York; and, both in and out of Parliament, the followers of each +party were full of violence and hatred towards the other. At length the +Duke of York put himself at the head of a large force of his tenants, +and, in arms, demanded the reformation of the Government. Being shut +out of London, he encamped at Dartford, and the royal army encamped at +Blackheath. According as either side triumphed, the Duke of York was +arrested, or the Duke of Somerset was arrested. The trouble ended, for +the moment, in the Duke of York renewing his oath of allegiance, and +going in peace to one of his own castles. + +Half a year afterwards the Queen gave birth to a son, who was very ill +received by the people, and not believed to be the son of the King. It +shows the Duke of York to have been a moderate man, unwilling to +involve England in new troubles, that he did not take advantage of the +general discontent at this time, but really acted for the public good. +He was made a member of the cabinet, and the King being now so much +worse that he could not be carried about and shown to the people with +any decency, the duke was made Lord Protector of the kingdom, until the +King should recover, or the Prince should come of age. At the same time +the Duke of Somerset was committed to the Tower. So, now the Duke of +Somerset was down, and the Duke of York was up. By the end of the year, +however, the King recovered his memory and some spark of sense; upon +which the Queen used her power—which recovered with him—to get the +Protector disgraced, and her favourite released. So now the Duke of +York was down, and the Duke of Somerset was up. + +These ducal ups and downs gradually separated the whole nation into the +two parties of York and Lancaster, and led to those terrible civil wars +long known as the Wars of the Red and White Roses, because the red rose +was the badge of the House of Lancaster, and the white rose was the +badge of the House of York. + +The Duke of York, joined by some other powerful noblemen of the White +Rose party, and leading a small army, met the King with another small +army at St. Alban’s, and demanded that the Duke of Somerset should be +given up. The poor King, being made to say in answer that he would +sooner die, was instantly attacked. The Duke of Somerset was killed, +and the King himself was wounded in the neck, and took refuge in the +house of a poor tanner. Whereupon, the Duke of York went to him, led +him with great submission to the Abbey, and said he was very sorry for +what had happened. Having now the King in his possession, he got a +Parliament summoned and himself once more made Protector, but, only for +a few months; for, on the King getting a little better again, the Queen +and her party got him into their possession, and disgraced the Duke +once more. So, now the Duke of York was down again. + +Some of the best men in power, seeing the danger of these constant +changes, tried even then to prevent the Red and the White Rose Wars. +They brought about a great council in London between the two parties. +The White Roses assembled in Blackfriars, the Red Roses in Whitefriars; +and some good priests communicated between them, and made the +proceedings known at evening to the King and the judges. They ended in +a peaceful agreement that there should be no more quarrelling; and +there was a great royal procession to St. Paul’s, in which the Queen +walked arm-in-arm with her old enemy, the Duke of York, to show the +people how comfortable they all were. This state of peace lasted half a +year, when a dispute between the Earl of Warwick (one of the Duke’s +powerful friends) and some of the King’s servants at Court, led to an +attack upon that Earl—who was a White Rose—and to a sudden breaking out +of all old animosities. So, here were greater ups and downs than ever. + +There were even greater ups and downs than these, soon after. After +various battles, the Duke of York fled to Ireland, and his son the Earl +of March to Calais, with their friends the Earls of Salisbury and +Warwick; and a Parliament was held declaring them all traitors. Little +the worse for this, the Earl of Warwick presently came back, landed in +Kent, was joined by the Archbishop of Canterbury and other powerful +noblemen and gentlemen, engaged the King’s forces at Northampton, +signally defeated them, and took the King himself prisoner, who was +found in his tent. Warwick would have been glad, I dare say, to have +taken the Queen and Prince too, but they escaped into Wales and thence +into Scotland. + +The King was carried by the victorious force straight to London, and +made to call a new Parliament, which immediately declared that the Duke +of York and those other noblemen were not traitors, but excellent +subjects. Then, back comes the Duke from Ireland at the head of five +hundred horsemen, rides from London to Westminster, and enters the +House of Lords. There, he laid his hand upon the cloth of gold which +covered the empty throne, as if he had half a mind to sit down in +it—but he did not. On the Archbishop of Canterbury, asking him if he +would visit the King, who was in his palace close by, he replied, ‘I +know no one in this country, my lord, who ought not to visit _me_.’ +None of the lords present spoke a single word; so, the duke went out as +he had come in, established himself royally in the King’s palace, and, +six days afterwards, sent in to the Lords a formal statement of his +claim to the throne. The lords went to the King on this momentous +subject, and after a great deal of discussion, in which the judges and +the other law officers were afraid to give an opinion on either side, +the question was compromised. It was agreed that the present King +should retain the crown for his life, and that it should then pass to +the Duke of York and his heirs. + +But, the resolute Queen, determined on asserting her son’s right, would +hear of no such thing. She came from Scotland to the north of England, +where several powerful lords armed in her cause. The Duke of York, for +his part, set off with some five thousand men, a little time before +Christmas Day, one thousand four hundred and sixty, to give her battle. +He lodged at Sandal Castle, near Wakefield, and the Red Roses defied +him to come out on Wakefield Green, and fight them then and there. His +generals said, he had best wait until his gallant son, the Earl of +March, came up with his power; but, he was determined to accept the +challenge. He did so, in an evil hour. He was hotly pressed on all +sides, two thousand of his men lay dead on Wakefield Green, and he +himself was taken prisoner. They set him down in mock state on an +ant-hill, and twisted grass about his head, and pretended to pay court +to him on their knees, saying, ‘O King, without a kingdom, and Prince +without a people, we hope your gracious Majesty is very well and +happy!’ They did worse than this; they cut his head off, and handed it +on a pole to the Queen, who laughed with delight when she saw it (you +recollect their walking so religiously and comfortably to St. Paul’s!), +and had it fixed, with a paper crown upon its head, on the walls of +York. The Earl of Salisbury lost his head, too; and the Duke of York’s +second son, a handsome boy who was flying with his tutor over Wakefield +Bridge, was stabbed in the heart by a murderous, lord—Lord Clifford by +name—whose father had been killed by the White Roses in the fight at +St. Alban’s. There was awful sacrifice of life in this battle, for no +quarter was given, and the Queen was wild for revenge. When men +unnaturally fight against their own countrymen, they are always +observed to be more unnaturally cruel and filled with rage than they +are against any other enemy. + +But, Lord Clifford had stabbed the second son of the Duke of York—not +the first. The eldest son, Edward Earl of March, was at Gloucester; +and, vowing vengeance for the death of his father, his brother, and +their faithful friends, he began to march against the Queen. He had to +turn and fight a great body of Welsh and Irish first, who worried his +advance. These he defeated in a great fight at Mortimer’s Cross, near +Hereford, where he beheaded a number of the Red Roses taken in battle, +in retaliation for the beheading of the White Roses at Wakefield. The +Queen had the next turn of beheading. Having moved towards London, and +falling in, between St. Alban’s and Barnet, with the Earl of Warwick +and the Duke of Norfolk, White Roses both, who were there with an army +to oppose her, and had got the King with them; she defeated them with +great loss, and struck off the heads of two prisoners of note, who were +in the King’s tent with him, and to whom the King had promised his +protection. Her triumph, however, was very short. She had no treasure, +and her army subsisted by plunder. This caused them to be hated and +dreaded by the people, and particularly by the London people, who were +wealthy. As soon as the Londoners heard that Edward, Earl of March, +united with the Earl of Warwick, was advancing towards the city, they +refused to send the Queen supplies, and made a great rejoicing. + +The Queen and her men retreated with all speed, and Edward and Warwick +came on, greeted with loud acclamations on every side. The courage, +beauty, and virtues of young Edward could not be sufficiently praised +by the whole people. He rode into London like a conqueror, and met with +an enthusiastic welcome. A few days afterwards, Lord Falconbridge and +the Bishop of Exeter assembled the citizens in St. John’s Field, +Clerkenwell, and asked them if they would have Henry of Lancaster for +their King? To this they all roared, ‘No, no, no!’ and ‘King Edward! +King Edward!’ Then, said those noblemen, would they love and serve +young Edward? To this they all cried, ‘Yes, yes!’ and threw up their +caps and clapped their hands, and cheered tremendously. + +Therefore, it was declared that by joining the Queen and not protecting +those two prisoners of note, Henry of Lancaster had forfeited the +crown; and Edward of York was proclaimed King. He made a great speech +to the applauding people at Westminster, and sat down as sovereign of +England on that throne, on the golden covering of which his +father—worthy of a better fate than the bloody axe which cut the thread +of so many lives in England, through so many years—had laid his hand. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FOURTH + + +King Edward the Fourth was not quite twenty-one years of age when he +took that unquiet seat upon the throne of England. The Lancaster party, +the Red Roses, were then assembling in great numbers near York, and it +was necessary to give them battle instantly. But, the stout Earl of +Warwick leading for the young King, and the young King himself closely +following him, and the English people crowding round the Royal +standard, the White and the Red Roses met, on a wild March day when the +snow was falling heavily, at Towton; and there such a furious battle +raged between them, that the total loss amounted to forty thousand +men—all Englishmen, fighting, upon English ground, against one another. +The young King gained the day, took down the heads of his father and +brother from the walls of York, and put up the heads of some of the +most famous noblemen engaged in the battle on the other side. Then, he +went to London and was crowned with great splendour. + +A new Parliament met. No fewer than one hundred and fifty of the +principal noblemen and gentlemen on the Lancaster side were declared +traitors, and the King—who had very little humanity, though he was +handsome in person and agreeable in manners—resolved to do all he +could, to pluck up the Red Rose root and branch. + +Queen Margaret, however, was still active for her young son. She +obtained help from Scotland and from Normandy, and took several +important English castles. But, Warwick soon retook them; the Queen +lost all her treasure on board ship in a great storm; and both she and +her son suffered great misfortunes. Once, in the winter weather, as +they were riding through a forest, they were attacked and plundered by +a party of robbers; and, when they had escaped from these men and were +passing alone and on foot through a thick dark part of the wood, they +came, all at once, upon another robber. So the Queen, with a stout +heart, took the little Prince by the hand, and going straight up to +that robber, said to him, ‘My friend, this is the young son of your +lawful King! I confide him to your care.’ The robber was surprised, but +took the boy in his arms, and faithfully restored him and his mother to +their friends. In the end, the Queen’s soldiers being beaten and +dispersed, she went abroad again, and kept quiet for the present. + +Now, all this time, the deposed King Henry was concealed by a Welsh +knight, who kept him close in his castle. But, next year, the Lancaster +party recovering their spirits, raised a large body of men, and called +him out of his retirement, to put him at their head. They were joined +by some powerful noblemen who had sworn fidelity to the new King, but +who were ready, as usual, to break their oaths, whenever they thought +there was anything to be got by it. One of the worst things in the +history of the war of the Red and White Roses, is the ease with which +these noblemen, who should have set an example of honour to the people, +left either side as they took slight offence, or were disappointed in +their greedy expectations, and joined the other. Well! Warwick’s +brother soon beat the Lancastrians, and the false noblemen, being +taken, were beheaded without a moment’s loss of time. The deposed King +had a narrow escape; three of his servants were taken, and one of them +bore his cap of estate, which was set with pearls and embroidered with +two golden crowns. However, the head to which the cap belonged, got +safely into Lancashire, and lay pretty quietly there (the people in the +secret being very true) for more than a year. At length, an old monk +gave such intelligence as led to Henry’s being taken while he was +sitting at dinner in a place called Waddington Hall. He was immediately +sent to London, and met at Islington by the Earl of Warwick, by whose +directions he was put upon a horse, with his legs tied under it, and +paraded three times round the pillory. Then, he was carried off to the +Tower, where they treated him well enough. + +The White Rose being so triumphant, the young King abandoned himself +entirely to pleasure, and led a jovial life. But, thorns were springing +up under his bed of roses, as he soon found out. For, having been +privately married to Elizabeth Woodville, a young widow lady, very +beautiful and very captivating; and at last resolving to make his +secret known, and to declare her his Queen; he gave some offence to the +Earl of Warwick, who was usually called the King-Maker, because of his +power and influence, and because of his having lent such great help to +placing Edward on the throne. This offence was not lessened by the +jealousy with which the Nevil family (the Earl of Warwick’s) regarded +the promotion of the Woodville family. For, the young Queen was so bent +on providing for her relations, that she made her father an earl and a +great officer of state; married her five sisters to young noblemen of +the highest rank; and provided for her younger brother, a young man of +twenty, by marrying him to an immensely rich old duchess of eighty. The +Earl of Warwick took all this pretty graciously for a man of his proud +temper, until the question arose to whom the King’s sister, Margaret, +should be married. The Earl of Warwick said, ‘To one of the French +King’s sons,’ and was allowed to go over to the French King to make +friendly proposals for that purpose, and to hold all manner of friendly +interviews with him. But, while he was so engaged, the Woodville party +married the young lady to the Duke of Burgundy! Upon this he came back +in great rage and scorn, and shut himself up discontented, in his +Castle of Middleham. + +A reconciliation, though not a very sincere one, was patched up between +the Earl of Warwick and the King, and lasted until the Earl married his +daughter, against the King’s wishes, to the Duke of Clarence. While the +marriage was being celebrated at Calais, the people in the north of +England, where the influence of the Nevil family was strongest, broke +out into rebellion; their complaint was, that England was oppressed and +plundered by the Woodville family, whom they demanded to have removed +from power. As they were joined by great numbers of people, and as they +openly declared that they were supported by the Earl of Warwick, the +King did not know what to do. At last, as he wrote to the earl +beseeching his aid, he and his new son-in-law came over to England, and +began to arrange the business by shutting the King up in Middleham +Castle in the safe keeping of the Archbishop of York; so England was +not only in the strange position of having two kings at once, but they +were both prisoners at the same time. + +Even as yet, however, the King-Maker was so far true to the King, that +he dispersed a new rising of the Lancastrians, took their leader +prisoner, and brought him to the King, who ordered him to be +immediately executed. He presently allowed the King to return to +London, and there innumerable pledges of forgiveness and friendship +were exchanged between them, and between the Nevils and the Woodvilles; +the King’s eldest daughter was promised in marriage to the heir of the +Nevil family; and more friendly oaths were sworn, and more friendly +promises made, than this book would hold. + +They lasted about three months. At the end of that time, the Archbishop +of York made a feast for the King, the Earl of Warwick, and the Duke of +Clarence, at his house, the Moor, in Hertfordshire. The King was +washing his hands before supper, when some one whispered him that a +body of a hundred men were lying in ambush outside the house. Whether +this were true or untrue, the King took fright, mounted his horse, and +rode through the dark night to Windsor Castle. Another reconciliation +was patched up between him and the King-Maker, but it was a short one, +and it was the last. A new rising took place in Lincolnshire, and the +King marched to repress it. Having done so, he proclaimed that both the +Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clarence were traitors, who had +secretly assisted it, and who had been prepared publicly to join it on +the following day. In these dangerous circumstances they both took ship +and sailed away to the French court. + +And here a meeting took place between the Earl of Warwick and his old +enemy, the Dowager Queen Margaret, through whom his father had had his +head struck off, and to whom he had been a bitter foe. But, now, when +he said that he had done with the ungrateful and perfidious Edward of +York, and that henceforth he devoted himself to the restoration of the +House of Lancaster, either in the person of her husband or of her +little son, she embraced him as if he had ever been her dearest friend. +She did more than that; she married her son to his second daughter, the +Lady Anne. However agreeable this marriage was to the new friends, it +was very disagreeable to the Duke of Clarence, who perceived that his +father-in-law, the King-Maker, would never make _him_ King, now. So, +being but a weak-minded young traitor, possessed of very little worth +or sense, he readily listened to an artful court lady sent over for the +purpose, and promised to turn traitor once more, and go over to his +brother, King Edward, when a fitting opportunity should come. + +The Earl of Warwick, knowing nothing of this, soon redeemed his promise +to the Dowager Queen Margaret, by invading England and landing at +Plymouth, where he instantly proclaimed King Henry, and summoned all +Englishmen between the ages of sixteen and sixty, to join his banner. +Then, with his army increasing as he marched along, he went northward, +and came so near King Edward, who was in that part of the country, that +Edward had to ride hard for it to the coast of Norfolk, and thence to +get away in such ships as he could find, to Holland. Thereupon, the +triumphant King-Maker and his false son-in-law, the Duke of Clarence, +went to London, took the old King out of the Tower, and walked him in a +great procession to Saint Paul’s Cathedral with the crown upon his +head. This did not improve the temper of the Duke of Clarence, who saw +himself farther off from being King than ever; but he kept his secret, +and said nothing. The Nevil family were restored to all their honours +and glories, and the Woodvilles and the rest were disgraced. The +King-Maker, less sanguinary than the King, shed no blood except that of +the Earl of Worcester, who had been so cruel to the people as to have +gained the title of the Butcher. Him they caught hidden in a tree, and +him they tried and executed. No other death stained the King-Maker’s +triumph. + +To dispute this triumph, back came King Edward again, next year, +landing at Ravenspur, coming on to York, causing all his men to cry +‘Long live King Henry!’ and swearing on the altar, without a blush, +that he came to lay no claim to the crown. Now was the time for the +Duke of Clarence, who ordered his men to assume the White Rose, and +declare for his brother. The Marquis of Montague, though the Earl of +Warwick’s brother, also declining to fight against King Edward, he went +on successfully to London, where the Archbishop of York let him into +the City, and where the people made great demonstrations in his favour. +For this they had four reasons. Firstly, there were great numbers of +the King’s adherents hiding in the City and ready to break out; +secondly, the King owed them a great deal of money, which they could +never hope to get if he were unsuccessful; thirdly, there was a young +prince to inherit the crown; and fourthly, the King was gay and +handsome, and more popular than a better man might have been with the +City ladies. After a stay of only two days with these worthy +supporters, the King marched out to Barnet Common, to give the Earl of +Warwick battle. And now it was to be seen, for the last time, whether +the King or the King-Maker was to carry the day. + +While the battle was yet pending, the fainthearted Duke of Clarence +began to repent, and sent over secret messages to his father-in-law, +offering his services in mediation with the King. But, the Earl of +Warwick disdainfully rejected them, and replied that Clarence was false +and perjured, and that he would settle the quarrel by the sword. The +battle began at four o’clock in the morning and lasted until ten, and +during the greater part of the time it was fought in a thick +mist—absurdly supposed to be raised by a magician. The loss of life was +very great, for the hatred was strong on both sides. The King-Maker was +defeated, and the King triumphed. Both the Earl of Warwick and his +brother were slain, and their bodies lay in St. Paul’s, for some days, +as a spectacle to the people. + +Margaret’s spirit was not broken even by this great blow. Within five +days she was in arms again, and raised her standard in Bath, whence she +set off with her army, to try and join Lord Pembroke, who had a force +in Wales. But, the King, coming up with her outside the town of +Tewkesbury, and ordering his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, who was a +brave soldier, to attack her men, she sustained an entire defeat, and +was taken prisoner, together with her son, now only eighteen years of +age. The conduct of the King to this poor youth was worthy of his cruel +character. He ordered him to be led into his tent. ‘And what,’ said he, +‘brought _you_ to England?’ ‘I came to England,’ replied the prisoner, +with a spirit which a man of spirit might have admired in a captive, +‘to recover my father’s kingdom, which descended to him as his right, +and from him descends to me, as mine.’ The King, drawing off his iron +gauntlet, struck him with it in the face; and the Duke of Clarence and +some other lords, who were there, drew their noble swords, and killed +him. + +His mother survived him, a prisoner, for five years; after her ransom +by the King of France, she survived for six years more. Within three +weeks of this murder, Henry died one of those convenient sudden deaths +which were so common in the Tower; in plainer words, he was murdered by +the King’s order. + +Having no particular excitement on his hands after this great defeat of +the Lancaster party, and being perhaps desirous to get rid of some of +his fat (for he was now getting too corpulent to be handsome), the King +thought of making war on France. As he wanted more money for this +purpose than the Parliament could give him, though they were usually +ready enough for war, he invented a new way of raising it, by sending +for the principal citizens of London, and telling them, with a grave +face, that he was very much in want of cash, and would take it very +kind in them if they would lend him some. It being impossible for them +safely to refuse, they complied, and the moneys thus forced from them +were called—no doubt to the great amusement of the King and the +Court—as if they were free gifts, ‘Benevolences.’ What with grants from +Parliament, and what with Benevolences, the King raised an army and +passed over to Calais. As nobody wanted war, however, the French King +made proposals of peace, which were accepted, and a truce was concluded +for seven long years. The proceedings between the Kings of France and +England on this occasion, were very friendly, very splendid, and very +distrustful. They finished with a meeting between the two Kings, on a +temporary bridge over the river Somme, where they embraced through two +holes in a strong wooden grating like a lion’s cage, and made several +bows and fine speeches to one another. + +It was time, now, that the Duke of Clarence should be punished for his +treacheries; and Fate had his punishment in store. He was, probably, +not trusted by the King—for who could trust him who knew him!—and he +had certainly a powerful opponent in his brother Richard, Duke of +Gloucester, who, being avaricious and ambitious, wanted to marry that +widowed daughter of the Earl of Warwick’s who had been espoused to the +deceased young Prince, at Calais. Clarence, who wanted all the family +wealth for himself, secreted this lady, whom Richard found disguised as +a servant in the City of London, and whom he married; arbitrators +appointed by the King, then divided the property between the brothers. +This led to ill-will and mistrust between them. Clarence’s wife dying, +and he wishing to make another marriage, which was obnoxious to the +King, his ruin was hurried by that means, too. At first, the Court +struck at his retainers and dependents, and accused some of them of +magic and witchcraft, and similar nonsense. Successful against this +small game, it then mounted to the Duke himself, who was impeached by +his brother the King, in person, on a variety of such charges. He was +found guilty, and sentenced to be publicly executed. He never was +publicly executed, but he met his death somehow, in the Tower, and, no +doubt, through some agency of the King or his brother Gloucester, or +both. It was supposed at the time that he was told to choose the manner +of his death, and that he chose to be drowned in a butt of Malmsey +wine. I hope the story may be true, for it would have been a becoming +death for such a miserable creature. + +The King survived him some five years. He died in the forty-second year +of his life, and the twenty-third of his reign. He had a very good +capacity and some good points, but he was selfish, careless, sensual, +and cruel. He was a favourite with the people for his showy manners; +and the people were a good example to him in the constancy of their +attachment. He was penitent on his death-bed for his ‘benevolences,’ +and other extortions, and ordered restitution to be made to the people +who had suffered from them. He also called about his bed the enriched +members of the Woodville family, and the proud lords whose honours were +of older date, and endeavoured to reconcile them, for the sake of the +peaceful succession of his son and the tranquillity of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE FIFTH + + +The late King’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, called Edward after +him, was only thirteen years of age at his father’s death. He was at +Ludlow Castle with his uncle, the Earl of Rivers. The prince’s brother, +the Duke of York, only eleven years of age, was in London with his +mother. The boldest, most crafty, and most dreaded nobleman in England +at that time was their uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and everybody +wondered how the two poor boys would fare with such an uncle for a +friend or a foe. + +The Queen, their mother, being exceedingly uneasy about this, was +anxious that instructions should be sent to Lord Rivers to raise an +army to escort the young King safely to London. But, Lord Hastings, who +was of the Court party opposed to the Woodvilles, and who disliked the +thought of giving them that power, argued against the proposal, and +obliged the Queen to be satisfied with an escort of two thousand horse. +The Duke of Gloucester did nothing, at first, to justify suspicion. He +came from Scotland (where he was commanding an army) to York, and was +there the first to swear allegiance to his nephew. He then wrote a +condoling letter to the Queen-Mother, and set off to be present at the +coronation in London. + +Now, the young King, journeying towards London too, with Lord Rivers +and Lord Gray, came to Stony Stratford, as his uncle came to +Northampton, about ten miles distant; and when those two lords heard +that the Duke of Gloucester was so near, they proposed to the young +King that they should go back and greet him in his name. The boy being +very willing that they should do so, they rode off and were received +with great friendliness, and asked by the Duke of Gloucester to stay +and dine with him. In the evening, while they were merry together, up +came the Duke of Buckingham with three hundred horsemen; and next +morning the two lords and the two dukes, and the three hundred +horsemen, rode away together to rejoin the King. Just as they were +entering Stony Stratford, the Duke of Gloucester, checking his horse, +turned suddenly on the two lords, charged them with alienating from him +the affections of his sweet nephew, and caused them to be arrested by +the three hundred horsemen and taken back. Then, he and the Duke of +Buckingham went straight to the King (whom they had now in their +power), to whom they made a show of kneeling down, and offering great +love and submission; and then they ordered his attendants to disperse, +and took him, alone with them, to Northampton. + +A few days afterwards they conducted him to London, and lodged him in +the Bishop’s Palace. But, he did not remain there long; for, the Duke +of Buckingham with a tender face made a speech expressing how anxious +he was for the Royal boy’s safety, and how much safer he would be in +the Tower until his coronation, than he could be anywhere else. So, to +the Tower he was taken, very carefully, and the Duke of Gloucester was +named Protector of the State. + +Although Gloucester had proceeded thus far with a very smooth +countenance—and although he was a clever man, fair of speech, and not +ill-looking, in spite of one of his shoulders being something higher +than the other—and although he had come into the City riding +bare-headed at the King’s side, and looking very fond of him—he had +made the King’s mother more uneasy yet; and when the Royal boy was +taken to the Tower, she became so alarmed that she took sanctuary in +Westminster with her five daughters. + +Nor did she do this without reason, for, the Duke of Gloucester, +finding that the lords who were opposed to the Woodville family were +faithful to the young King nevertheless, quickly resolved to strike a +blow for himself. Accordingly, while those lords met in council at the +Tower, he and those who were in his interest met in separate council at +his own residence, Crosby Palace, in Bishopsgate Street. Being at last +quite prepared, he one day appeared unexpectedly at the council in the +Tower, and appeared to be very jocular and merry. He was particularly +gay with the Bishop of Ely: praising the strawberries that grew in his +garden on Holborn Hill, and asking him to have some gathered that he +might eat them at dinner. The Bishop, quite proud of the honour, sent +one of his men to fetch some; and the Duke, still very jocular and gay, +went out; and the council all said what a very agreeable duke he was! +In a little time, however, he came back quite altered—not at all +jocular—frowning and fierce—and suddenly said,— + +‘What do those persons deserve who have compassed my destruction; I +being the King’s lawful, as well as natural, protector?’ + +To this strange question, Lord Hastings replied, that they deserved +death, whosoever they were. + +‘Then,’ said the Duke, ‘I tell you that they are that sorceress my +brother’s wife;’ meaning the Queen: ‘and that other sorceress, Jane +Shore. Who, by witchcraft, have withered my body, and caused my arm to +shrink as I now show you.’ + +He then pulled up his sleeve and showed them his arm, which was +shrunken, it is true, but which had been so, as they all very well +knew, from the hour of his birth. + +Jane Shore, being then the lover of Lord Hastings, as she had formerly +been of the late King, that lord knew that he himself was attacked. So, +he said, in some confusion, ‘Certainly, my Lord, if they have done +this, they be worthy of punishment.’ + +‘If?’ said the Duke of Gloucester; ‘do you talk to me of ifs? I tell +you that they _have_ so done, and I will make it good upon thy body, +thou traitor!’ + +With that, he struck the table a great blow with his fist. This was a +signal to some of his people outside to cry ‘Treason!’ They immediately +did so, and there was a rush into the chamber of so many armed men that +it was filled in a moment. + +‘First,’ said the Duke of Gloucester to Lord Hastings, ‘I arrest thee, +traitor! And let him,’ he added to the armed men who took him, ‘have a +priest at once, for by St. Paul I will not dine until I have seen his +head of!’ + +Lord Hastings was hurried to the green by the Tower chapel, and there +beheaded on a log of wood that happened to be lying on the ground. +Then, the Duke dined with a good appetite, and after dinner summoning +the principal citizens to attend him, told them that Lord Hastings and +the rest had designed to murder both himself and the Duke if +Buckingham, who stood by his side, if he had not providentially +discovered their design. He requested them to be so obliging as to +inform their fellow-citizens of the truth of what he said, and issued a +proclamation (prepared and neatly copied out beforehand) to the same +effect. + +On the same day that the Duke did these things in the Tower, Sir +Richard Ratcliffe, the boldest and most undaunted of his men, went down +to Pontefract; arrested Lord Rivers, Lord Gray, and two other +gentlemen; and publicly executed them on the scaffold, without any +trial, for having intended the Duke’s death. Three days afterwards the +Duke, not to lose time, went down the river to Westminster in his +barge, attended by divers bishops, lords, and soldiers, and demanded +that the Queen should deliver her second son, the Duke of York, into +his safe keeping. The Queen, being obliged to comply, resigned the +child after she had wept over him; and Richard of Gloucester placed him +with his brother in the Tower. Then, he seized Jane Shore, and, because +she had been the lover of the late King, confiscated her property, and +got her sentenced to do public penance in the streets by walking in a +scanty dress, with bare feet, and carrying a lighted candle, to St. +Paul’s Cathedral, through the most crowded part of the City. + +Having now all things ready for his own advancement, he caused a friar +to preach a sermon at the cross which stood in front of St. Paul’s +Cathedral, in which he dwelt upon the profligate manners of the late +King, and upon the late shame of Jane Shore, and hinted that the +princes were not his children. ‘Whereas, good people,’ said the friar, +whose name was Shaw, ‘my Lord the Protector, the noble Duke of +Gloucester, that sweet prince, the pattern of all the noblest virtues, +is the perfect image and express likeness of his father.’ There had +been a little plot between the Duke and the friar, that the Duke should +appear in the crowd at this moment, when it was expected that the +people would cry ‘Long live King Richard!’ But, either through the +friar saying the words too soon, or through the Duke’s coming too late, +the Duke and the words did not come together, and the people only +laughed, and the friar sneaked off ashamed. + +The Duke of Buckingham was a better hand at such business than the +friar, so he went to the Guildhall the next day, and addressed the +citizens in the Lord Protector’s behalf. A few dirty men, who had been +hired and stationed there for the purpose, crying when he had done, +‘God save King Richard!’ he made them a great bow, and thanked them +with all his heart. Next day, to make an end of it, he went with the +mayor and some lords and citizens to Bayard Castle, by the river, where +Richard then was, and read an address, humbly entreating him to accept +the Crown of England. Richard, who looked down upon them out of a +window and pretended to be in great uneasiness and alarm, assured them +there was nothing he desired less, and that his deep affection for his +nephews forbade him to think of it. To this the Duke of Buckingham +replied, with pretended warmth, that the free people of England would +never submit to his nephew’s rule, and that if Richard, who was the +lawful heir, refused the Crown, why then they must find some one else +to wear it. The Duke of Gloucester returned, that since he used that +strong language, it became his painful duty to think no more of +himself, and to accept the Crown. + +Upon that, the people cheered and dispersed; and the Duke of Gloucester +and the Duke of Buckingham passed a pleasant evening, talking over the +play they had just acted with so much success, and every word of which +they had prepared together. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV +ENGLAND UNDER RICHARD THE THIRD + + +King Richard the Third was up betimes in the morning, and went to +Westminster Hall. In the Hall was a marble seat, upon which he sat +himself down between two great noblemen, and told the people that he +began the new reign in that place, because the first duty of a +sovereign was to administer the laws equally to all, and to maintain +justice. He then mounted his horse and rode back to the City, where he +was received by the clergy and the crowd as if he really had a right to +the throne, and really were a just man. The clergy and the crowd must +have been rather ashamed of themselves in secret, I think, for being +such poor-spirited knaves. + +The new King and his Queen were soon crowned with a great deal of show +and noise, which the people liked very much; and then the King set +forth on a royal progress through his dominions. He was crowned a +second time at York, in order that the people might have show and noise +enough; and wherever he went was received with shouts of rejoicing—from +a good many people of strong lungs, who were paid to strain their +throats in crying, ‘God save King Richard!’ The plan was so successful +that I am told it has been imitated since, by other usurpers, in other +progresses through other dominions. + +While he was on this journey, King Richard stayed a week at Warwick. +And from Warwick he sent instructions home for one of the wickedest +murders that ever was done—the murder of the two young princes, his +nephews, who were shut up in the Tower of London. + +Sir Robert Brackenbury was at that time Governor of the Tower. To him, +by the hands of a messenger named John Green, did King Richard send a +letter, ordering him by some means to put the two young princes to +death. But Sir Robert—I hope because he had children of his own, and +loved them—sent John Green back again, riding and spurring along the +dusty roads, with the answer that he could not do so horrible a piece +of work. The King, having frowningly considered a little, called to him +Sir James Tyrrel, his master of the horse, and to him gave authority to +take command of the Tower, whenever he would, for twenty-four hours, +and to keep all the keys of the Tower during that space of time. +Tyrrel, well knowing what was wanted, looked about him for two hardened +ruffians, and chose John Dighton, one of his own grooms, and Miles +Forest, who was a murderer by trade. Having secured these two +assistants, he went, upon a day in August, to the Tower, showed his +authority from the King, took the command for four-and-twenty hours, +and obtained possession of the keys. And when the black night came he +went creeping, creeping, like a guilty villain as he was, up the dark, +stone winding stairs, and along the dark stone passages, until he came +to the door of the room where the two young princes, having said their +prayers, lay fast asleep, clasped in each other’s arms. And while he +watched and listened at the door, he sent in those evil demons, John +Dighton and Miles Forest, who smothered the two princes with the bed +and pillows, and carried their bodies down the stairs, and buried them +under a great heap of stones at the staircase foot. And when the day +came, he gave up the command of the Tower, and restored the keys, and +hurried away without once looking behind him; and Sir Robert +Brackenbury went with fear and sadness to the princes’ room, and found +the princes gone for ever. + +You know, through all this history, how true it is that traitors are +never true, and you will not be surprised to learn that the Duke of +Buckingham soon turned against King Richard, and joined a great +conspiracy that was formed to dethrone him, and to place the crown upon +its rightful owner’s head. Richard had meant to keep the murder secret; +but when he heard through his spies that this conspiracy existed, and +that many lords and gentlemen drank in secret to the healths of the two +young princes in the Tower, he made it known that they were dead. The +conspirators, though thwarted for a moment, soon resolved to set up for +the crown against the murderous Richard, Henry Earl of Richmond, +grandson of Catherine: that widow of Henry the Fifth who married Owen +Tudor. And as Henry was of the house of Lancaster, they proposed that +he should marry the Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of the late +King, now the heiress of the house of York, and thus by uniting the +rival families put an end to the fatal wars of the Red and White Roses. +All being settled, a time was appointed for Henry to come over from +Brittany, and for a great rising against Richard to take place in +several parts of England at the same hour. On a certain day, therefore, +in October, the revolt took place; but unsuccessfully. Richard was +prepared, Henry was driven back at sea by a storm, his followers in +England were dispersed, and the Duke of Buckingham was taken, and at +once beheaded in the market-place at Salisbury. + +The time of his success was a good time, Richard thought, for summoning +a Parliament and getting some money. So, a Parliament was called, and +it flattered and fawned upon him as much as he could possibly desire, +and declared him to be the rightful King of England, and his only son +Edward, then eleven years of age, the next heir to the throne. + +Richard knew full well that, let the Parliament say what it would, the +Princess Elizabeth was remembered by people as the heiress of the house +of York; and having accurate information besides, of its being designed +by the conspirators to marry her to Henry of Richmond, he felt that it +would much strengthen him and weaken them, to be beforehand with them, +and marry her to his son. With this view he went to the Sanctuary at +Westminster, where the late King’s widow and her daughter still were, +and besought them to come to Court: where (he swore by anything and +everything) they should be safely and honourably entertained. They +came, accordingly, but had scarcely been at Court a month when his son +died suddenly—or was poisoned—and his plan was crushed to pieces. + +In this extremity, King Richard, always active, thought, ‘I must make +another plan.’ And he made the plan of marrying the Princess Elizabeth +himself, although she was his niece. There was one difficulty in the +way: his wife, the Queen Anne, was alive. But, he knew (remembering his +nephews) how to remove that obstacle, and he made love to the Princess +Elizabeth, telling her he felt perfectly confident that the Queen would +die in February. The Princess was not a very scrupulous young lady, +for, instead of rejecting the murderer of her brothers with scorn and +hatred, she openly declared she loved him dearly; and, when February +came and the Queen did not die, she expressed her impatient opinion +that she was too long about it. However, King Richard was not so far +out in his prediction, but, that she died in March—he took good care of +that—and then this precious pair hoped to be married. But they were +disappointed, for the idea of such a marriage was so unpopular in the +country, that the King’s chief counsellors, Ratcliffe and Catesby, +would by no means undertake to propose it, and the King was even +obliged to declare in public that he had never thought of such a thing. + +He was, by this time, dreaded and hated by all classes of his subjects. +His nobles deserted every day to Henry’s side; he dared not call +another Parliament, lest his crimes should be denounced there; and for +want of money, he was obliged to get Benevolences from the citizens, +which exasperated them all against him. It was said too, that, being +stricken by his conscience, he dreamed frightful dreams, and started up +in the night-time, wild with terror and remorse. Active to the last, +through all this, he issued vigorous proclamations against Henry of +Richmond and all his followers, when he heard that they were coming +against him with a Fleet from France; and took the field as fierce and +savage as a wild boar—the animal represented on his shield. + +Henry of Richmond landed with six thousand men at Milford Haven, and +came on against King Richard, then encamped at Leicester with an army +twice as great, through North Wales. On Bosworth Field the two armies +met; and Richard, looking along Henry’s ranks, and seeing them crowded +with the English nobles who had abandoned him, turned pale when he +beheld the powerful Lord Stanley and his son (whom he had tried hard to +retain) among them. But, he was as brave as he was wicked, and plunged +into the thickest of the fight. He was riding hither and thither, +laying about him in all directions, when he observed the Earl of +Northumberland—one of his few great allies—to stand inactive, and the +main body of his troops to hesitate. At the same moment, his desperate +glance caught Henry of Richmond among a little group of his knights. +Riding hard at him, and crying ‘Treason!’ he killed his +standard-bearer, fiercely unhorsed another gentleman, and aimed a +powerful stroke at Henry himself, to cut him down. But, Sir William +Stanley parried it as it fell, and before Richard could raise his arm +again, he was borne down in a press of numbers, unhorsed, and killed. +Lord Stanley picked up the crown, all bruised and trampled, and stained +with blood, and put it upon Richmond’s head, amid loud and rejoicing +cries of ‘Long live King Henry!’ + +That night, a horse was led up to the church of the Grey Friars at +Leicester; across whose back was tied, like some worthless sack, a +naked body brought there for burial. It was the body of the last of the +Plantagenet line, King Richard the Third, usurper and murderer, slain +at the battle of Bosworth Field in the thirty-second year of his age, +after a reign of two years. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE SEVENTH + + +King Henry the Seventh did not turn out to be as fine a fellow as the +nobility and people hoped, in the first joy of their deliverance from +Richard the Third. He was very cold, crafty, and calculating, and would +do almost anything for money. He possessed considerable ability, but +his chief merit appears to have been that he was not cruel when there +was nothing to be got by it. + +The new King had promised the nobles who had espoused his cause that he +would marry the Princess Elizabeth. The first thing he did, was, to +direct her to be removed from the castle of Sheriff Hutton in +Yorkshire, where Richard had placed her, and restored to the care of +her mother in London. The young Earl of Warwick, Edward Plantagenet, +son and heir of the late Duke of Clarence, had been kept a prisoner in +the same old Yorkshire Castle with her. This boy, who was now fifteen, +the new King placed in the Tower for safety. Then he came to London in +great state, and gratified the people with a fine procession; on which +kind of show he often very much relied for keeping them in good humour. +The sports and feasts which took place were followed by a terrible +fever, called the Sweating Sickness; of which great numbers of people +died. Lord Mayors and Aldermen are thought to have suffered most from +it; whether, because they were in the habit of over-eating themselves, +or because they were very jealous of preserving filth and nuisances in +the City (as they have been since), I don’t know. + +The King’s coronation was postponed on account of the general +ill-health, and he afterwards deferred his marriage, as if he were not +very anxious that it should take place: and, even after that, deferred +the Queen’s coronation so long that he gave offence to the York party. +However, he set these things right in the end, by hanging some men and +seizing on the rich possessions of others; by granting more popular +pardons to the followers of the late King than could, at first, be got +from him; and, by employing about his Court, some very scrupulous +persons who had been employed in the previous reign. + +As this reign was principally remarkable for two very curious +impostures which have become famous in history, we will make those two +stories its principal feature. + +There was a priest at Oxford of the name of Simons, who had for a pupil +a handsome boy named Lambert Simnel, the son of a baker. Partly to +gratify his own ambitious ends, and partly to carry out the designs of +a secret party formed against the King, this priest declared that his +pupil, the boy, was no other than the young Earl of Warwick; who (as +everybody might have known) was safely locked up in the Tower of +London. The priest and the boy went over to Ireland; and, at Dublin, +enlisted in their cause all ranks of the people: who seem to have been +generous enough, but exceedingly irrational. The Earl of Kildare, the +governor of Ireland, declared that he believed the boy to be what the +priest represented; and the boy, who had been well tutored by the +priest, told them such things of his childhood, and gave them so many +descriptions of the Royal Family, that they were perpetually shouting +and hurrahing, and drinking his health, and making all kinds of noisy +and thirsty demonstrations, to express their belief in him. Nor was +this feeling confined to Ireland alone, for the Earl of Lincoln—whom +the late usurper had named as his successor—went over to the young +Pretender; and, after holding a secret correspondence with the Dowager +Duchess of Burgundy—the sister of Edward the Fourth, who detested the +present King and all his race—sailed to Dublin with two thousand German +soldiers of her providing. In this promising state of the boy’s +fortunes, he was crowned there, with a crown taken off the head of a +statue of the Virgin Mary; and was then, according to the Irish custom +of those days, carried home on the shoulders of a big chieftain +possessing a great deal more strength than sense. Father Simons, you +may be sure, was mighty busy at the coronation. + +Ten days afterwards, the Germans, and the Irish, and the priest, and +the boy, and the Earl of Lincoln, all landed in Lancashire to invade +England. The King, who had good intelligence of their movements, set up +his standard at Nottingham, where vast numbers resorted to him every +day; while the Earl of Lincoln could gain but very few. With his small +force he tried to make for the town of Newark; but the King’s army +getting between him and that place, he had no choice but to risk a +battle at Stoke. It soon ended in the complete destruction of the +Pretender’s forces, one half of whom were killed; among them, the Earl +himself. The priest and the baker’s boy were taken prisoners. The +priest, after confessing the trick, was shut up in prison, where he +afterwards died—suddenly perhaps. The boy was taken into the King’s +kitchen and made a turnspit. He was afterwards raised to the station of +one of the King’s falconers; and so ended this strange imposition. + +There seems reason to suspect that the Dowager Queen—always a restless +and busy woman—had had some share in tutoring the baker’s son. The King +was very angry with her, whether or no. He seized upon her property, +and shut her up in a convent at Bermondsey. + +One might suppose that the end of this story would have put the Irish +people on their guard; but they were quite ready to receive a second +impostor, as they had received the first, and that same troublesome +Duchess of Burgundy soon gave them the opportunity. All of a sudden +there appeared at Cork, in a vessel arriving from Portugal, a young man +of excellent abilities, of very handsome appearance and most winning +manners, who declared himself to be Richard, Duke of York, the second +son of King Edward the Fourth. ‘O,’ said some, even of those ready +Irish believers, ‘but surely that young Prince was murdered by his +uncle in the Tower!’—‘It _is_ supposed so,’ said the engaging young +man; ‘and my brother _was_ killed in that gloomy prison; but I +escaped—it don’t matter how, at present—and have been wandering about +the world for seven long years.’ This explanation being quite +satisfactory to numbers of the Irish people, they began again to shout +and to hurrah, and to drink his health, and to make the noisy and +thirsty demonstrations all over again. And the big chieftain in Dublin +began to look out for another coronation, and another young King to be +carried home on his back. + +Now, King Henry being then on bad terms with France, the French King, +Charles the Eighth, saw that, by pretending to believe in the handsome +young man, he could trouble his enemy sorely. So, he invited him over +to the French Court, and appointed him a body-guard, and treated him in +all respects as if he really were the Duke of York. Peace, however, +being soon concluded between the two Kings, the pretended Duke was +turned adrift, and wandered for protection to the Duchess of Burgundy. +She, after feigning to inquire into the reality of his claims, declared +him to be the very picture of her dear departed brother; gave him a +body-guard at her Court, of thirty halberdiers; and called him by the +sounding name of the White Rose of England. + +The leading members of the White Rose party in England sent over an +agent, named Sir Robert Clifford, to ascertain whether the White Rose’s +claims were good: the King also sent over his agents to inquire into +the Rose’s history. The White Roses declared the young man to be really +the Duke of York; the King declared him to be Perkin Warbeck, the son +of a merchant of the city of Tournay, who had acquired his knowledge of +England, its language and manners, from the English merchants who +traded in Flanders; it was also stated by the Royal agents that he had +been in the service of Lady Brompton, the wife of an exiled English +nobleman, and that the Duchess of Burgundy had caused him to be trained +and taught, expressly for this deception. The King then required the +Archduke Philip—who was the sovereign of Burgundy—to banish this new +Pretender, or to deliver him up; but, as the Archduke replied that he +could not control the Duchess in her own land, the King, in revenge, +took the market of English cloth away from Antwerp, and prevented all +commercial intercourse between the two countries. + +He also, by arts and bribes, prevailed on Sir Robert Clifford to betray +his employers; and he denouncing several famous English noblemen as +being secretly the friends of Perkin Warbeck, the King had three of the +foremost executed at once. Whether he pardoned the remainder because +they were poor, I do not know; but it is only too probable that he +refused to pardon one famous nobleman against whom the same Clifford +soon afterwards informed separately, because he was rich. This was no +other than Sir William Stanley, who had saved the King’s life at the +battle of Bosworth Field. It is very doubtful whether his treason +amounted to much more than his having said, that if he were sure the +young man was the Duke of York, he would not take arms against him. +Whatever he had done he admitted, like an honourable spirit; and he +lost his head for it, and the covetous King gained all his wealth. + +Perkin Warbeck kept quiet for three years; but, as the Flemings began +to complain heavily of the loss of their trade by the stoppage of the +Antwerp market on his account, and as it was not unlikely that they +might even go so far as to take his life, or give him up, he found it +necessary to do something. Accordingly he made a desperate sally, and +landed, with only a few hundred men, on the coast of Deal. But he was +soon glad to get back to the place from whence he came; for the country +people rose against his followers, killed a great many, and took a +hundred and fifty prisoners: who were all driven to London, tied +together with ropes, like a team of cattle. Every one of them was +hanged on some part or other of the sea-shore; in order, that if any +more men should come over with Perkin Warbeck, they might see the +bodies as a warning before they landed. + +Then the wary King, by making a treaty of commerce with the Flemings, +drove Perkin Warbeck out of that country; and, by completely gaining +over the Irish to his side, deprived him of that asylum too. He +wandered away to Scotland, and told his story at that Court. King James +the Fourth of Scotland, who was no friend to King Henry, and had no +reason to be (for King Henry had bribed his Scotch lords to betray him +more than once; but had never succeeded in his plots), gave him a great +reception, called him his cousin, and gave him in marriage the Lady +Catherine Gordon, a beautiful and charming creature related to the +royal house of Stuart. + +Alarmed by this successful reappearance of the Pretender, the King +still undermined, and bought, and bribed, and kept his doings and +Perkin Warbeck’s story in the dark, when he might, one would imagine, +have rendered the matter clear to all England. But, for all this +bribing of the Scotch lords at the Scotch King’s Court, he could not +procure the Pretender to be delivered up to him. James, though not very +particular in many respects, would not betray him; and the ever-busy +Duchess of Burgundy so provided him with arms, and good soldiers, and +with money besides, that he had soon a little army of fifteen hundred +men of various nations. With these, and aided by the Scottish King in +person, he crossed the border into England, and made a proclamation to +the people, in which he called the King ‘Henry Tudor;’ offered large +rewards to any who should take or distress him; and announced himself +as King Richard the Fourth come to receive the homage of his faithful +subjects. His faithful subjects, however, cared nothing for him, and +hated his faithful troops: who, being of different nations, quarrelled +also among themselves. Worse than this, if worse were possible, they +began to plunder the country; upon which the White Rose said, that he +would rather lose his rights, than gain them through the miseries of +the English people. The Scottish King made a jest of his scruples; but +they and their whole force went back again without fighting a battle. + +The worst consequence of this attempt was, that a rising took place +among the people of Cornwall, who considered themselves too heavily +taxed to meet the charges of the expected war. Stimulated by Flammock, +a lawyer, and Joseph, a blacksmith, and joined by Lord Audley and some +other country gentlemen, they marched on all the way to Deptford +Bridge, where they fought a battle with the King’s army. They were +defeated—though the Cornish men fought with great bravery—and the lord +was beheaded, and the lawyer and the blacksmith were hanged, drawn, and +quartered. The rest were pardoned. The King, who believed every man to +be as avaricious as himself, and thought that money could settle +anything, allowed them to make bargains for their liberty with the +soldiers who had taken them. + +Perkin Warbeck, doomed to wander up and down, and never to find rest +anywhere—a sad fate: almost a sufficient punishment for an imposture, +which he seems in time to have half believed himself—lost his Scottish +refuge through a truce being made between the two Kings; and found +himself, once more, without a country before him in which he could lay +his head. But James (always honourable and true to him, alike when he +melted down his plate, and even the great gold chain he had been used +to wear, to pay soldiers in his cause; and now, when that cause was +lost and hopeless) did not conclude the treaty, until he had safely +departed out of the Scottish dominions. He, and his beautiful wife, who +was faithful to him under all reverses, and left her state and home to +follow his poor fortunes, were put aboard ship with everything +necessary for their comfort and protection, and sailed for Ireland. + +But, the Irish people had had enough of counterfeit Earls of Warwick +and Dukes of York, for one while; and would give the White Rose no aid. +So, the White Rose—encircled by thorns indeed—resolved to go with his +beautiful wife to Cornwall as a forlorn resource, and see what might be +made of the Cornish men, who had risen so valiantly a little while +before, and who had fought so bravely at Deptford Bridge. + +To Whitsand Bay, in Cornwall, accordingly, came Perkin Warbeck and his +wife; and the lovely lady he shut up for safety in the Castle of St. +Michael’s Mount, and then marched into Devonshire at the head of three +thousand Cornishmen. These were increased to six thousand by the time +of his arrival in Exeter; but, there the people made a stout +resistance, and he went on to Taunton, where he came in sight of the +King’s army. The stout Cornish men, although they were few in number, +and badly armed, were so bold, that they never thought of retreating; +but bravely looked forward to a battle on the morrow. Unhappily for +them, the man who was possessed of so many engaging qualities, and who +attracted so many people to his side when he had nothing else with +which to tempt them, was not as brave as they. In the night, when the +two armies lay opposite to each other, he mounted a swift horse and +fled. When morning dawned, the poor confiding Cornish men, discovering +that they had no leader, surrendered to the King’s power. Some of them +were hanged, and the rest were pardoned and went miserably home. + +Before the King pursued Perkin Warbeck to the sanctuary of Beaulieu in +the New Forest, where it was soon known that he had taken refuge, he +sent a body of horsemen to St. Michael’s Mount, to seize his wife. She +was soon taken and brought as a captive before the King. But she was so +beautiful, and so good, and so devoted to the man in whom she believed, +that the King regarded her with compassion, treated her with great +respect, and placed her at Court, near the Queen’s person. And many +years after Perkin Warbeck was no more, and when his strange story had +become like a nursery tale, _she_ was called the White Rose, by the +people, in remembrance of her beauty. + +The sanctuary at Beaulieu was soon surrounded by the King’s men; and +the King, pursuing his usual dark, artful ways, sent pretended friends +to Perkin Warbeck to persuade him to come out and surrender himself. +This he soon did; the King having taken a good look at the man of whom +he had heard so much—from behind a screen—directed him to be well +mounted, and to ride behind him at a little distance, guarded, but not +bound in any way. So they entered London with the King’s favourite +show—a procession; and some of the people hooted as the Pretender rode +slowly through the streets to the Tower; but the greater part were +quiet, and very curious to see him. From the Tower, he was taken to the +Palace at Westminster, and there lodged like a gentleman, though +closely watched. He was examined every now and then as to his +imposture; but the King was so secret in all he did, that even then he +gave it a consequence, which it cannot be supposed to have in itself +deserved. + +At last Perkin Warbeck ran away, and took refuge in another sanctuary +near Richmond in Surrey. From this he was again persuaded to deliver +himself up; and, being conveyed to London, he stood in the stocks for a +whole day, outside Westminster Hall, and there read a paper purporting +to be his full confession, and relating his history as the King’s +agents had originally described it. He was then shut up in the Tower +again, in the company of the Earl of Warwick, who had now been there +for fourteen years: ever since his removal out of Yorkshire, except +when the King had had him at Court, and had shown him to the people, to +prove the imposture of the Baker’s boy. It is but too probable, when we +consider the crafty character of Henry the Seventh, that these two were +brought together for a cruel purpose. A plot was soon discovered +between them and the keepers, to murder the Governor, get possession of +the keys, and proclaim Perkin Warbeck as King Richard the Fourth. That +there was some such plot, is likely; that they were tempted into it, is +at least as likely; that the unfortunate Earl of Warwick—last male of +the Plantagenet line—was too unused to the world, and too ignorant and +simple to know much about it, whatever it was, is perfectly certain; +and that it was the King’s interest to get rid of him, is no less so. +He was beheaded on Tower Hill, and Perkin Warbeck was hanged at Tyburn. + +Such was the end of the pretended Duke of York, whose shadowy history +was made more shadowy—and ever will be—by the mystery and craft of the +King. If he had turned his great natural advantages to a more honest +account, he might have lived a happy and respected life, even in those +days. But he died upon a gallows at Tyburn, leaving the Scottish lady, +who had loved him so well, kindly protected at the Queen’s Court. After +some time she forgot her old loves and troubles, as many people do with +Time’s merciful assistance, and married a Welsh gentleman. Her second +husband, Sir Matthew Cradoc, more honest and more happy than her first, +lies beside her in a tomb in the old church of Swansea. + +The ill-blood between France and England in this reign, arose out of +the continued plotting of the Duchess of Burgundy, and disputes +respecting the affairs of Brittany. The King feigned to be very +patriotic, indignant, and warlike; but he always contrived so as never +to make war in reality, and always to make money. His taxation of the +people, on pretence of war with France, involved, at one time, a very +dangerous insurrection, headed by Sir John Egremont, and a common man +called John à Chambre. But it was subdued by the royal forces, under +the command of the Earl of Surrey. The knighted John escaped to the +Duchess of Burgundy, who was ever ready to receive any one who gave the +King trouble; and the plain John was hanged at York, in the midst of a +number of his men, but on a much higher gibbet, as being a greater +traitor. Hung high or hung low, however, hanging is much the same to +the person hung. + +Within a year after her marriage, the Queen had given birth to a son, +who was called Prince Arthur, in remembrance of the old British prince +of romance and story; and who, when all these events had happened, +being then in his fifteenth year, was married to Catherine, the +daughter of the Spanish monarch, with great rejoicings and bright +prospects; but in a very few months he sickened and died. As soon as +the King had recovered from his grief, he thought it a pity that the +fortune of the Spanish Princess, amounting to two hundred thousand +crowns, should go out of the family; and therefore arranged that the +young widow should marry his second son Henry, then twelve years of +age, when he too should be fifteen. There were objections to this +marriage on the part of the clergy; but, as the infallible Pope was +gained over, and, as he _must_ be right, that settled the business for +the time. The King’s eldest daughter was provided for, and a long +course of disturbance was considered to be set at rest, by her being +married to the Scottish King. + +And now the Queen died. When the King had got over that grief too, his +mind once more reverted to his darling money for consolation, and he +thought of marrying the Dowager Queen of Naples, who was immensely +rich: but, as it turned out not to be practicable to gain the money +however practicable it might have been to gain the lady, he gave up the +idea. He was not so fond of her but that he soon proposed to marry the +Dowager Duchess of Savoy; and, soon afterwards, the widow of the King +of Castile, who was raving mad. But he made a money-bargain instead, +and married neither. + +The Duchess of Burgundy, among the other discontented people to whom +she had given refuge, had sheltered Edmund de la Pole (younger brother +of that Earl of Lincoln who was killed at Stoke), now Earl of Suffolk. +The King had prevailed upon him to return to the marriage of Prince +Arthur; but, he soon afterwards went away again; and then the King, +suspecting a conspiracy, resorted to his favourite plan of sending him +some treacherous friends, and buying of those scoundrels the secrets +they disclosed or invented. Some arrests and executions took place in +consequence. In the end, the King, on a promise of not taking his life, +obtained possession of the person of Edmund de la Pole, and shut him up +in the Tower. + +This was his last enemy. If he had lived much longer he would have made +many more among the people, by the grinding exaction to which he +constantly exposed them, and by the tyrannical acts of his two prime +favourites in all money-raising matters, Edmund Dudley and Richard +Empson. But Death—the enemy who is not to be bought off or deceived, +and on whom no money, and no treachery has any effect—presented himself +at this juncture, and ended the King’s reign. He died of the gout, on +the twenty-second of April, one thousand five hundred and nine, and in +the fifty-third year of his age, after reigning twenty-four years; he +was buried in the beautiful Chapel of Westminster Abbey, which he had +himself founded, and which still bears his name. + +It was in this reign that the great Christopher Columbus, on behalf of +Spain, discovered what was then called The New World. Great wonder, +interest, and hope of wealth being awakened in England thereby, the +King and the merchants of London and Bristol fitted out an English +expedition for further discoveries in the New World, and entrusted it +to Sebastian Cabot, of Bristol, the son of a Venetian pilot there. He +was very successful in his voyage, and gained high reputation, both for +himself and England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH, CALLED BLUFF KING HAL AND BURLY KING +HARRY + +PART THE FIRST + +We now come to King Henry the Eighth, whom it has been too much the +fashion to call ‘Bluff King Hal,’ and ‘Burly King Harry,’ and other +fine names; but whom I shall take the liberty to call, plainly, one of +the most detestable villains that ever drew breath. You will be able to +judge, long before we come to the end of his life, whether he deserves +the character. + +He was just eighteen years of age when he came to the throne. People +said he was handsome then; but I don’t believe it. He was a big, burly, +noisy, small-eyed, large-faced, double-chinned, swinish-looking fellow +in later life (as we know from the likenesses of him, painted by the +famous Hans Holbein), and it is not easy to believe that so bad a +character can ever have been veiled under a prepossessing appearance. + +He was anxious to make himself popular; and the people, who had long +disliked the late King, were very willing to believe that he deserved +to be so. He was extremely fond of show and display, and so were they. +Therefore there was great rejoicing when he married the Princess +Catherine, and when they were both crowned. And the King fought at +tournaments and always came off victorious—for the courtiers took care +of that—and there was a general outcry that he was a wonderful man. +Empson, Dudley, and their supporters were accused of a variety of +crimes they had never committed, instead of the offences of which they +really had been guilty; and they were pilloried, and set upon horses +with their faces to the tails, and knocked about and beheaded, to the +satisfaction of the people, and the enrichment of the King. + +The Pope, so indefatigable in getting the world into trouble, had mixed +himself up in a war on the continent of Europe, occasioned by the +reigning Princes of little quarrelling states in Italy having at +various times married into other Royal families, and so led to _their_ +claiming a share in those petty Governments. The King, who discovered +that he was very fond of the Pope, sent a herald to the King of France, +to say that he must not make war upon that holy personage, because he +was the father of all Christians. As the French King did not mind this +relationship in the least, and also refused to admit a claim King Henry +made to certain lands in France, war was declared between the two +countries. Not to perplex this story with an account of the tricks and +designs of all the sovereigns who were engaged in it, it is enough to +say that England made a blundering alliance with Spain, and got +stupidly taken in by that country; which made its own terms with France +when it could and left England in the lurch. Sir Edward Howard, a bold +admiral, son of the Earl of Surrey, distinguished himself by his +bravery against the French in this business; but, unfortunately, he was +more brave than wise, for, skimming into the French harbour of Brest +with only a few row-boats, he attempted (in revenge for the defeat and +death of Sir Thomas Knyvett, another bold English admiral) to take some +strong French ships, well defended with batteries of cannon. The upshot +was, that he was left on board of one of them (in consequence of its +shooting away from his own boat), with not more than about a dozen men, +and was thrown into the sea and drowned: though not until he had taken +from his breast his gold chain and gold whistle, which were the signs +of his office, and had cast them into the sea to prevent their being +made a boast of by the enemy. After this defeat—which was a great one, +for Sir Edward Howard was a man of valour and fame—the King took it +into his head to invade France in person; first executing that +dangerous Earl of Suffolk whom his father had left in the Tower, and +appointing Queen Catherine to the charge of his kingdom in his absence. +He sailed to Calais, where he was joined by Maximilian, Emperor of +Germany, who pretended to be his soldier, and who took pay in his +service: with a good deal of nonsense of that sort, flattering enough +to the vanity of a vain blusterer. The King might be successful enough +in sham fights; but his idea of real battles chiefly consisted in +pitching silken tents of bright colours that were ignominiously blown +down by the wind, and in making a vast display of gaudy flags and +golden curtains. Fortune, however, favoured him better than he +deserved; for, after much waste of time in tent pitching, flag flying, +gold curtaining, and other such masquerading, he gave the French battle +at a place called Guinegate: where they took such an unaccountable +panic, and fled with such swiftness, that it was ever afterwards called +by the English the Battle of Spurs. Instead of following up his +advantage, the King, finding that he had had enough of real fighting, +came home again. + +The Scottish King, though nearly related to Henry by marriage, had +taken part against him in this war. The Earl of Surrey, as the English +general, advanced to meet him when he came out of his own dominions and +crossed the river Tweed. The two armies came up with one another when +the Scottish King had also crossed the river Till, and was encamped +upon the last of the Cheviot Hills, called the Hill of Flodden. Along +the plain below it, the English, when the hour of battle came, +advanced. The Scottish army, which had been drawn up in five great +bodies, then came steadily down in perfect silence. So they, in their +turn, advanced to meet the English army, which came on in one long +line; and they attacked it with a body of spearmen, under Lord Home. At +first they had the best of it; but the English recovered themselves so +bravely, and fought with such valour, that, when the Scottish King had +almost made his way up to the Royal Standard, he was slain, and the +whole Scottish power routed. Ten thousand Scottish men lay dead that +day on Flodden Field; and among them, numbers of the nobility and +gentry. For a long time afterwards, the Scottish peasantry used to +believe that their King had not been really killed in this battle, +because no Englishman had found an iron belt he wore about his body as +a penance for having been an unnatural and undutiful son. But, whatever +became of his belt, the English had his sword and dagger, and the ring +from his finger, and his body too, covered with wounds. There is no +doubt of it; for it was seen and recognised by English gentlemen who +had known the Scottish King well. + +When King Henry was making ready to renew the war in France, the French +King was contemplating peace. His queen, dying at this time, he +proposed, though he was upwards of fifty years old, to marry King +Henry’s sister, the Princess Mary, who, besides being only sixteen, was +betrothed to the Duke of Suffolk. As the inclinations of young +Princesses were not much considered in such matters, the marriage was +concluded, and the poor girl was escorted to France, where she was +immediately left as the French King’s bride, with only one of all her +English attendants. That one was a pretty young girl named Anne Boleyn, +niece of the Earl of Surrey, who had been made Duke of Norfolk, after +the victory of Flodden Field. Anne Boleyn’s is a name to be remembered, +as you will presently find. + +And now the French King, who was very proud of his young wife, was +preparing for many years of happiness, and she was looking forward, I +dare say, to many years of misery, when he died within three months, +and left her a young widow. The new French monarch, Francis the First, +seeing how important it was to his interests that she should take for +her second husband no one but an Englishman, advised her first lover, +the Duke of Suffolk, when King Henry sent him over to France to fetch +her home, to marry her. The Princess being herself so fond of that +Duke, as to tell him that he must either do so then, or for ever lose +her, they were wedded; and Henry afterwards forgave them. In making +interest with the King, the Duke of Suffolk had addressed his most +powerful favourite and adviser, Thomas Wolsey—a name very famous in +history for its rise and downfall. + +Wolsey was the son of a respectable butcher at Ipswich, in Suffolk and +received so excellent an education that he became a tutor to the family +of the Marquis of Dorset, who afterwards got him appointed one of the +late King’s chaplains. On the accession of Henry the Eighth, he was +promoted and taken into great favour. He was now Archbishop of York; +the Pope had made him a Cardinal besides; and whoever wanted influence +in England or favour with the King—whether he were a foreign monarch or +an English nobleman—was obliged to make a friend of the great Cardinal +Wolsey. + +He was a gay man, who could dance and jest, and sing and drink; and +those were the roads to so much, or rather so little, of a heart as +King Henry had. He was wonderfully fond of pomp and glitter, and so was +the King. He knew a good deal of the Church learning of that time; much +of which consisted in finding artful excuses and pretences for almost +any wrong thing, and in arguing that black was white, or any other +colour. This kind of learning pleased the King too. For many such +reasons, the Cardinal was high in estimation with the King; and, being +a man of far greater ability, knew as well how to manage him, as a +clever keeper may know how to manage a wolf or a tiger, or any other +cruel and uncertain beast, that may turn upon him and tear him any day. +Never had there been seen in England such state as my Lord Cardinal +kept. His wealth was enormous; equal, it was reckoned, to the riches of +the Crown. His palaces were as splendid as the King’s, and his retinue +was eight hundred strong. He held his Court, dressed out from top to +toe in flaming scarlet; and his very shoes were golden, set with +precious stones. His followers rode on blood horses; while he, with a +wonderful affectation of humility in the midst of his great splendour, +ambled on a mule with a red velvet saddle and bridle and golden +stirrups. + +Through the influence of this stately priest, a grand meeting was +arranged to take place between the French and English Kings in France; +but on ground belonging to England. A prodigious show of friendship and +rejoicing was to be made on the occasion; and heralds were sent to +proclaim with brazen trumpets through all the principal cities of +Europe, that, on a certain day, the Kings of France and England, as +companions and brothers in arms, each attended by eighteen followers, +would hold a tournament against all knights who might choose to come. + +Charles, the new Emperor of Germany (the old one being dead), wanted to +prevent too cordial an alliance between these sovereigns, and came over +to England before the King could repair to the place of meeting; and, +besides making an agreeable impression upon him, secured Wolsey’s +interest by promising that his influence should make him Pope when the +next vacancy occurred. On the day when the Emperor left England, the +King and all the Court went over to Calais, and thence to the place of +meeting, between Ardres and Guisnes, commonly called the Field of the +Cloth of Gold. Here, all manner of expense and prodigality was lavished +on the decorations of the show; many of the knights and gentlemen being +so superbly dressed that it was said they carried their whole estates +upon their shoulders. + +There were sham castles, temporary chapels, fountains running wine, +great cellars full of wine free as water to all comers, silk tents, +gold lace and foil, gilt lions, and such things without end; and, in +the midst of all, the rich Cardinal out-shone and out-glittered all the +noblemen and gentlemen assembled. After a treaty made between the two +Kings with as much solemnity as if they had intended to keep it, the +lists—nine hundred feet long, and three hundred and twenty broad—were +opened for the tournament; the Queens of France and England looking on +with great array of lords and ladies. Then, for ten days, the two +sovereigns fought five combats every day, and always beat their polite +adversaries; though they _do_ write that the King of England, being +thrown in a wrestle one day by the King of France, lost his kingly +temper with his brother-in-arms, and wanted to make a quarrel of it. +Then, there is a great story belonging to this Field of the Cloth of +Gold, showing how the English were distrustful of the French, and the +French of the English, until Francis rode alone one morning to Henry’s +tent; and, going in before he was out of bed, told him in joke that he +was his prisoner; and how Henry jumped out of bed and embraced Francis; +and how Francis helped Henry to dress, and warmed his linen for him; +and how Henry gave Francis a splendid jewelled collar, and how Francis +gave Henry, in return, a costly bracelet. All this and a great deal +more was so written about, and sung about, and talked about at that +time (and, indeed, since that time too), that the world has had good +cause to be sick of it, for ever. + +Of course, nothing came of all these fine doings but a speedy renewal +of the war between England and France, in which the two Royal +companions and brothers in arms longed very earnestly to damage one +another. But, before it broke out again, the Duke of Buckingham was +shamefully executed on Tower Hill, on the evidence of a discharged +servant—really for nothing, except the folly of having believed in a +friar of the name of Hopkins, who had pretended to be a prophet, and +who had mumbled and jumbled out some nonsense about the Duke’s son +being destined to be very great in the land. It was believed that the +unfortunate Duke had given offence to the great Cardinal by expressing +his mind freely about the expense and absurdity of the whole business +of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At any rate, he was beheaded, as I +have said, for nothing. And the people who saw it done were very angry, +and cried out that it was the work of ‘the butcher’s son!’ + +The new war was a short one, though the Earl of Surrey invaded France +again, and did some injury to that country. It ended in another treaty +of peace between the two kingdoms, and in the discovery that the +Emperor of Germany was not such a good friend to England in reality, as +he pretended to be. Neither did he keep his promise to Wolsey to make +him Pope, though the King urged him. Two Popes died in pretty quick +succession; but the foreign priests were too much for the Cardinal, and +kept him out of the post. So the Cardinal and King together found out +that the Emperor of Germany was not a man to keep faith with; broke off +a projected marriage between the King’s daughter Mary, Princess of +Wales, and that sovereign; and began to consider whether it might not +be well to marry the young lady, either to Francis himself, or to his +eldest son. + +There now arose at Wittemberg, in Germany, the great leader of the +mighty change in England which is called The Reformation, and which set +the people free from their slavery to the priests. This was a learned +Doctor, named Martin Luther, who knew all about them, for he had been a +priest, and even a monk, himself. The preaching and writing of +Wickliffe had set a number of men thinking on this subject; and Luther, +finding one day to his great surprise, that there really was a book +called the New Testament which the priests did not allow to be read, +and which contained truths that they suppressed, began to be very +vigorous against the whole body, from the Pope downward. It happened, +while he was yet only beginning his vast work of awakening the nation, +that an impudent fellow named Tetzel, a friar of very bad character, +came into his neighbourhood selling what were called Indulgences, by +wholesale, to raise money for beautifying the great Cathedral of St. +Peter’s, at Rome. Whoever bought an Indulgence of the Pope was supposed +to buy himself off from the punishment of Heaven for his offences. +Luther told the people that these Indulgences were worthless bits of +paper, before God, and that Tetzel and his masters were a crew of +impostors in selling them. + +The King and the Cardinal were mightily indignant at this presumption; +and the King (with the help of Sir Thomas More, a wise man, whom he +afterwards repaid by striking off his head) even wrote a book about it, +with which the Pope was so well pleased that he gave the King the title +of Defender of the Faith. The King and the Cardinal also issued flaming +warnings to the people not to read Luther’s books, on pain of +excommunication. But they did read them for all that; and the rumour of +what was in them spread far and wide. + +When this great change was thus going on, the King began to show +himself in his truest and worst colours. Anne Boleyn, the pretty little +girl who had gone abroad to France with his sister, was by this time +grown up to be very beautiful, and was one of the ladies in attendance +on Queen Catherine. Now, Queen Catherine was no longer young or +handsome, and it is likely that she was not particularly good-tempered; +having been always rather melancholy, and having been made more so by +the deaths of four of her children when they were very young. So, the +King fell in love with the fair Anne Boleyn, and said to himself, ‘How +can I be best rid of my own troublesome wife whom I am tired of, and +marry Anne?’ + +[Illustration: Catherine was old, so he fell in love with Anne Boleyn] + +You recollect that Queen Catherine had been the wife of Henry’s +brother. What does the King do, after thinking it over, but calls his +favourite priests about him, and says, O! his mind is in such a +dreadful state, and he is so frightfully uneasy, because he is afraid +it was not lawful for him to marry the Queen! Not one of those priests +had the courage to hint that it was rather curious he had never thought +of that before, and that his mind seemed to have been in a tolerably +jolly condition during a great many years, in which he certainly had +not fretted himself thin; but, they all said, Ah! that was very true, +and it was a serious business; and perhaps the best way to make it +right, would be for his Majesty to be divorced! The King replied, Yes, +he thought that would be the best way, certainly; so they all went to +work. + +If I were to relate to you the intrigues and plots that took place in +the endeavour to get this divorce, you would think the History of +England the most tiresome book in the world. So I shall say no more, +than that after a vast deal of negotiation and evasion, the Pope issued +a commission to Cardinal Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio (whom he sent +over from Italy for the purpose), to try the whole case in England. It +is supposed—and I think with reason—that Wolsey was the Queen’s enemy, +because she had reproved him for his proud and gorgeous manner of life. +But, he did not at first know that the King wanted to marry Anne +Boleyn; and when he did know it, he even went down on his knees, in the +endeavour to dissuade him. + +The Cardinals opened their court in the Convent of the Black Friars, +near to where the bridge of that name in London now stands; and the +King and Queen, that they might be near it, took up their lodgings at +the adjoining palace of Bridewell, of which nothing now remains but a +bad prison. On the opening of the court, when the King and Queen were +called on to appear, that poor ill-used lady, with a dignity and +firmness and yet with a womanly affection worthy to be always admired, +went and kneeled at the King’s feet, and said that she had come, a +stranger, to his dominions; that she had been a good and true wife to +him for twenty years; and that she could acknowledge no power in those +Cardinals to try whether she should be considered his wife after all +that time, or should be put away. With that, she got up and left the +court, and would never afterwards come back to it. + +The King pretended to be very much overcome, and said, O! my lords and +gentlemen, what a good woman she was to be sure, and how delighted he +would be to live with her unto death, but for that terrible uneasiness +in his mind which was quite wearing him away! So, the case went on, and +there was nothing but talk for two months. Then Cardinal Campeggio, +who, on behalf of the Pope, wanted nothing so much as delay, adjourned +it for two more months; and before that time was elapsed, the Pope +himself adjourned it indefinitely, by requiring the King and Queen to +come to Rome and have it tried there. But by good luck for the King, +word was brought to him by some of his people, that they had happened +to meet at supper, Thomas Cranmer, a learned Doctor of Cambridge, who +had proposed to urge the Pope on, by referring the case to all the +learned doctors and bishops, here and there and everywhere, and getting +their opinions that the King’s marriage was unlawful. The King, who was +now in a hurry to marry Anne Boleyn, thought this such a good idea, +that he sent for Cranmer, post haste, and said to Lord Rochfort, Anne +Boleyn’s father, ‘Take this learned Doctor down to your country-house, +and there let him have a good room for a study, and no end of books out +of which to prove that I may marry your daughter.’ Lord Rochfort, not +at all reluctant, made the learned Doctor as comfortable as he could; +and the learned Doctor went to work to prove his case. All this time, +the King and Anne Boleyn were writing letters to one another almost +daily, full of impatience to have the case settled; and Anne Boleyn was +showing herself (as I think) very worthy of the fate which afterwards +befel her. + +It was bad for Cardinal Wolsey that he had left Cranmer to render this +help. It was worse for him that he had tried to dissuade the King from +marrying Anne Boleyn. Such a servant as he, to such a master as Henry, +would probably have fallen in any case; but, between the hatred of the +party of the Queen that was, and the hatred of the party of the Queen +that was to be, he fell suddenly and heavily. Going down one day to the +Court of Chancery, where he now presided, he was waited upon by the +Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, who told him that they brought an order +to him to resign that office, and to withdraw quietly to a house he had +at Esher, in Surrey. The Cardinal refusing, they rode off to the King; +and next day came back with a letter from him, on reading which, the +Cardinal submitted. An inventory was made out of all the riches in his +palace at York Place (now Whitehall), and he went sorrowfully up the +river, in his barge, to Putney. An abject man he was, in spite of his +pride; for being overtaken, riding out of that place towards Esher, by +one of the King’s chamberlains who brought him a kind message and a +ring, he alighted from his mule, took off his cap, and kneeled down in +the dirt. His poor Fool, whom in his prosperous days he had always kept +in his palace to entertain him, cut a far better figure than he; for, +when the Cardinal said to the chamberlain that he had nothing to send +to his lord the King as a present, but that jester who was a most +excellent one, it took six strong yeomen to remove the faithful fool +from his master. + +The once proud Cardinal was soon further disgraced, and wrote the most +abject letters to his vile sovereign; who humbled him one day and +encouraged him the next, according to his humour, until he was at last +ordered to go and reside in his diocese of York. He said he was too +poor; but I don’t know how he made that out, for he took a hundred and +sixty servants with him, and seventy-two cart-loads of furniture, food, +and wine. He remained in that part of the country for the best part of +a year, and showed himself so improved by his misfortunes, and was so +mild and so conciliating, that he won all hearts. And indeed, even in +his proud days, he had done some magnificent things for learning and +education. At last, he was arrested for high treason; and, coming +slowly on his journey towards London, got as far as Leicester. Arriving +at Leicester Abbey after dark, and very ill, he said—when the monks +came out at the gate with lighted torches to receive him—that he had +come to lay his bones among them. He had indeed; for he was taken to a +bed, from which he never rose again. His last words were, ‘Had I but +served God as diligently as I have served the King, He would not have +given me over, in my grey hairs. Howbeit, this is my just reward for my +pains and diligence, not regarding my service to God, but only my duty +to my prince.’ The news of his death was quickly carried to the King, +who was amusing himself with archery in the garden of the magnificent +Palace at Hampton Court, which that very Wolsey had presented to him. +The greatest emotion his royal mind displayed at the loss of a servant +so faithful and so ruined, was a particular desire to lay hold of +fifteen hundred pounds which the Cardinal was reported to have hidden +somewhere. + +The opinions concerning the divorce, of the learned doctors and bishops +and others, being at last collected, and being generally in the King’s +favour, were forwarded to the Pope, with an entreaty that he would now +grant it. The unfortunate Pope, who was a timid man, was half +distracted between his fear of his authority being set aside in England +if he did not do as he was asked, and his dread of offending the +Emperor of Germany, who was Queen Catherine’s nephew. In this state of +mind he still evaded and did nothing. Then, Thomas Cromwell, who had +been one of Wolsey’s faithful attendants, and had remained so even in +his decline, advised the King to take the matter into his own hands, +and make himself the head of the whole Church. This, the King by +various artful means, began to do; but he recompensed the clergy by +allowing them to burn as many people as they pleased, for holding +Luther’s opinions. You must understand that Sir Thomas More, the wise +man who had helped the King with his book, had been made Chancellor in +Wolsey’s place. But, as he was truly attached to the Church as it was +even in its abuses, he, in this state of things, resigned. + +Being now quite resolved to get rid of Queen Catherine, and to marry +Anne Boleyn without more ado, the King made Cranmer Archbishop of +Canterbury, and directed Queen Catherine to leave the Court. She +obeyed; but replied that wherever she went, she was Queen of England +still, and would remain so, to the last. The King then married Anne +Boleyn privately; and the new Archbishop of Canterbury, within half a +year, declared his marriage with Queen Catherine void, and crowned Anne +Boleyn Queen. + +She might have known that no good could ever come from such wrong, and +that the corpulent brute who had been so faithless and so cruel to his +first wife, could be more faithless and more cruel to his second. She +might have known that, even when he was in love with her, he had been a +mean and selfish coward, running away, like a frightened cur, from her +society and her house, when a dangerous sickness broke out in it, and +when she might easily have taken it and died, as several of the +household did. But, Anne Boleyn arrived at all this knowledge too late, +and bought it at a dear price. Her bad marriage with a worse man came +to its natural end. Its natural end was not, as we shall too soon see, +a natural death for her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII +ENGLAND UNDER HENRY THE EIGHTH + +PART THE SECOND + +The Pope was thrown into a very angry state of mind when he heard of +the King’s marriage, and fumed exceedingly. Many of the English monks +and friars, seeing that their order was in danger, did the same; some +even declaimed against the King in church before his face, and were not +to be stopped until he himself roared out ‘Silence!’ The King, not much +the worse for this, took it pretty quietly; and was very glad when his +Queen gave birth to a daughter, who was christened Elizabeth, and +declared Princess of Wales as her sister Mary had already been. + +One of the most atrocious features of this reign was that Henry the +Eighth was always trimming between the reformed religion and the +unreformed one; so that the more he quarrelled with the Pope, the more +of his own subjects he roasted alive for not holding the Pope’s +opinions. Thus, an unfortunate student named John Frith, and a poor +simple tailor named Andrew Hewet who loved him very much, and said that +whatever John Frith believed _he_ believed, were burnt in Smithfield—to +show what a capital Christian the King was. + +But, these were speedily followed by two much greater victims, Sir +Thomas More, and John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. The latter, who +was a good and amiable old man, had committed no greater offence than +believing in Elizabeth Barton, called the Maid of Kent—another of those +ridiculous women who pretended to be inspired, and to make all sorts of +heavenly revelations, though they indeed uttered nothing but evil +nonsense. For this offence—as it was pretended, but really for denying +the King to be the supreme Head of the Church—he got into trouble, and +was put in prison; but, even then, he might have been suffered to die +naturally (short work having been made of executing the Kentish Maid +and her principal followers), but that the Pope, to spite the King, +resolved to make him a cardinal. Upon that the King made a ferocious +joke to the effect that the Pope might send Fisher a red hat—which is +the way they make a cardinal—but he should have no head on which to +wear it; and he was tried with all unfairness and injustice, and +sentenced to death. He died like a noble and virtuous old man, and left +a worthy name behind him. The King supposed, I dare say, that Sir +Thomas More would be frightened by this example; but, as he was not to +be easily terrified, and, thoroughly believing in the Pope, had made up +his mind that the King was not the rightful Head of the Church, he +positively refused to say that he was. For this crime he too was tried +and sentenced, after having been in prison a whole year. When he was +doomed to death, and came away from his trial with the edge of the +executioner’s axe turned towards him—as was always done in those times +when a state prisoner came to that hopeless pass—he bore it quite +serenely, and gave his blessing to his son, who pressed through the +crowd in Westminster Hall and kneeled down to receive it. But, when he +got to the Tower Wharf on his way back to his prison, and his favourite +daughter, Margaret Roper, a very good woman, rushed through the guards +again and again, to kiss him and to weep upon his neck, he was overcome +at last. He soon recovered, and never more showed any feeling but +cheerfulness and courage. When he was going up the steps of the +scaffold to his death, he said jokingly to the Lieutenant of the Tower, +observing that they were weak and shook beneath his tread, ‘I pray you, +master Lieutenant, see me safe up; and, for my coming down, I can shift +for myself.’ Also he said to the executioner, after he had laid his +head upon the block, ‘Let me put my beard out of the way; for that, at +least, has never committed any treason.’ Then his head was struck off +at a blow. These two executions were worthy of King Henry the Eighth. +Sir Thomas More was one of the most virtuous men in his dominions, and +the Bishop was one of his oldest and truest friends. But to be a friend +of that fellow was almost as dangerous as to be his wife. + +When the news of these two murders got to Rome, the Pope raged against +the murderer more than ever Pope raged since the world began, and +prepared a Bull, ordering his subjects to take arms against him and +dethrone him. The King took all possible precautions to keep that +document out of his dominions, and set to work in return to suppress a +great number of the English monasteries and abbeys. + +This destruction was begun by a body of commissioners, of whom Cromwell +(whom the King had taken into great favour) was the head; and was +carried on through some few years to its entire completion. There is no +doubt that many of these religious establishments were religious in +nothing but in name, and were crammed with lazy, indolent, and sensual +monks. There is no doubt that they imposed upon the people in every +possible way; that they had images moved by wires, which they pretended +were miraculously moved by Heaven; that they had among them a whole tun +measure full of teeth, all purporting to have come out of the head of +one saint, who must indeed have been a very extraordinary person with +that enormous allowance of grinders; that they had bits of coal which +they said had fried Saint Lawrence, and bits of toe-nails which they +said belonged to other famous saints; penknives, and boots, and +girdles, which they said belonged to others; and that all these bits of +rubbish were called Relics, and adored by the ignorant people. But, on +the other hand, there is no doubt either, that the King’s officers and +men punished the good monks with the bad; did great injustice; +demolished many beautiful things and many valuable libraries; destroyed +numbers of paintings, stained glass windows, fine pavements, and +carvings; and that the whole court were ravenously greedy and rapacious +for the division of this great spoil among them. The King seems to have +grown almost mad in the ardour of this pursuit; for he declared Thomas +à Becket a traitor, though he had been dead so many years, and had his +body dug up out of his grave. He must have been as miraculous as the +monks pretended, if they had told the truth, for he was found with one +head on his shoulders, and they had shown another as his undoubted and +genuine head ever since his death; it had brought them vast sums of +money, too. The gold and jewels on his shrine filled two great chests, +and eight men tottered as they carried them away. How rich the +monasteries were you may infer from the fact that, when they were all +suppressed, one hundred and thirty thousand pounds a year—in those days +an immense sum—came to the Crown. + +These things were not done without causing great discontent among the +people. The monks had been good landlords and hospitable entertainers +of all travellers, and had been accustomed to give away a great deal of +corn, and fruit, and meat, and other things. In those days it was +difficult to change goods into money, in consequence of the roads being +very few and very bad, and the carts, and waggons of the worst +description; and they must either have given away some of the good +things they possessed in enormous quantities, or have suffered them to +spoil and moulder. So, many of the people missed what it was more +agreeable to get idly than to work for; and the monks who were driven +out of their homes and wandered about encouraged their discontent; and +there were, consequently, great risings in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. +These were put down by terrific executions, from which the monks +themselves did not escape, and the King went on grunting and growling +in his own fat way, like a Royal pig. + +I have told all this story of the religious houses at one time, to make +it plainer, and to get back to the King’s domestic affairs. + +The unfortunate Queen Catherine was by this time dead; and the King was +by this time as tired of his second Queen as he had been of his first. +As he had fallen in love with Anne when she was in the service of +Catherine, so he now fell in love with another lady in the service of +Anne. See how wicked deeds are punished, and how bitterly and +self-reproachfully the Queen must now have thought of her own rise to +the throne! The new fancy was a Lady Jane Seymour; and the King no +sooner set his mind on her, than he resolved to have Anne Boleyn’s +head. So, he brought a number of charges against Anne, accusing her of +dreadful crimes which she had never committed, and implicating in them +her own brother and certain gentlemen in her service: among whom one +Norris, and Mark Smeaton a musician, are best remembered. As the lords +and councillors were as afraid of the King and as subservient to him as +the meanest peasant in England was, they brought in Anne Boleyn guilty, +and the other unfortunate persons accused with her, guilty too. Those +gentlemen died like men, with the exception of Smeaton, who had been +tempted by the King into telling lies, which he called confessions, and +who had expected to be pardoned; but who, I am very glad to say, was +not. There was then only the Queen to dispose of. She had been +surrounded in the Tower with women spies; had been monstrously +persecuted and foully slandered; and had received no justice. But her +spirit rose with her afflictions; and, after having in vain tried to +soften the King by writing an affecting letter to him which still +exists, ‘from her doleful prison in the Tower,’ she resigned herself to +death. She said to those about her, very cheerfully, that she had heard +say the executioner was a good one, and that she had a little neck (she +laughed and clasped it with her hands as she said that), and would soon +be out of her pain. And she _was_ soon out of her pain, poor creature, +on the Green inside the Tower, and her body was flung into an old box +and put away in the ground under the chapel. + +There is a story that the King sat in his palace listening very +anxiously for the sound of the cannon which was to announce this new +murder; and that, when he heard it come booming on the air, he rose up +in great spirits and ordered out his dogs to go a-hunting. He was bad +enough to do it; but whether he did it or not, it is certain that he +married Jane Seymour the very next day. + +I have not much pleasure in recording that she lived just long enough +to give birth to a son who was christened Edward, and then to die of a +fever: for, I cannot but think that any woman who married such a +ruffian, and knew what innocent blood was on his hands, deserved the +axe that would assuredly have fallen on the neck of Jane Seymour, if +she had lived much longer. + +Cranmer had done what he could to save some of the Church property for +purposes of religion and education; but, the great families had been so +hungry to get hold of it, that very little could be rescued for such +objects. Even Miles Coverdale, who did the people the inestimable +service of translating the Bible into English (which the unreformed +religion never permitted to be done), was left in poverty while the +great families clutched the Church lands and money. The people had been +told that when the Crown came into possession of these funds, it would +not be necessary to tax them; but they were taxed afresh directly +afterwards. It was fortunate for them, indeed, that so many nobles were +so greedy for this wealth; since, if it had remained with the Crown, +there might have been no end to tyranny for hundreds of years. One of +the most active writers on the Church’s side against the King was a +member of his own family—a sort of distant cousin, Reginald Pole by +name—who attacked him in the most violent manner (though he received a +pension from him all the time), and fought for the Church with his pen, +day and night. As he was beyond the King’s reach—being in Italy—the +King politely invited him over to discuss the subject; but he, knowing +better than to come, and wisely staying where he was, the King’s rage +fell upon his brother Lord Montague, the Marquis of Exeter, and some +other gentlemen: who were tried for high treason in corresponding with +him and aiding him—which they probably did—and were all executed. The +Pope made Reginald Pole a cardinal; but, so much against his will, that +it is thought he even aspired in his own mind to the vacant throne of +England, and had hopes of marrying the Princess Mary. His being made a +high priest, however, put an end to all that. His mother, the venerable +Countess of Salisbury—who was, unfortunately for herself, within the +tyrant’s reach—was the last of his relatives on whom his wrath fell. +When she was told to lay her grey head upon the block, she answered the +executioner, ‘No! My head never committed treason, and if you want it, +you shall seize it.’ So, she ran round and round the scaffold with the +executioner striking at her, and her grey hair bedabbled with blood; +and even when they held her down upon the block she moved her head +about to the last, resolved to be no party to her own barbarous murder. +All this the people bore, as they had borne everything else. + +Indeed they bore much more; for the slow fires of Smithfield were +continually burning, and people were constantly being roasted to +death—still to show what a good Christian the King was. He defied the +Pope and his Bull, which was now issued, and had come into England; but +he burned innumerable people whose only offence was that they differed +from the Pope’s religious opinions. There was a wretched man named +Lambert, among others, who was tried for this before the King, and with +whom six bishops argued one after another. When he was quite exhausted +(as well he might be, after six bishops), he threw himself on the +King’s mercy; but the King blustered out that he had no mercy for +heretics. So, _he_ too fed the fire. + +All this the people bore, and more than all this yet. The national +spirit seems to have been banished from the kingdom at this time. The +very people who were executed for treason, the very wives and friends +of the ‘bluff’ King, spoke of him on the scaffold as a good prince, and +a gentle prince—just as serfs in similar circumstances have been known +to do, under the Sultan and Bashaws of the East, or under the fierce +old tyrants of Russia, who poured boiling and freezing water on them +alternately, until they died. The Parliament were as bad as the rest, +and gave the King whatever he wanted; among other vile accommodations, +they gave him new powers of murdering, at his will and pleasure, any +one whom he might choose to call a traitor. But the worst measure they +passed was an Act of Six Articles, commonly called at the time ‘the +whip with six strings;’ which punished offences against the Pope’s +opinions, without mercy, and enforced the very worst parts of the +monkish religion. Cranmer would have modified it, if he could; but, +being overborne by the Romish party, had not the power. As one of the +articles declared that priests should not marry, and as he was married +himself, he sent his wife and children into Germany, and began to +tremble at his danger; none the less because he was, and had long been, +the King’s friend. This whip of six strings was made under the King’s +own eye. It should never be forgotten of him how cruelly he supported +the worst of the Popish doctrines when there was nothing to be got by +opposing them. + +This amiable monarch now thought of taking another wife. He proposed to +the French King to have some of the ladies of the French Court +exhibited before him, that he might make his Royal choice; but the +French King answered that he would rather not have his ladies trotted +out to be shown like horses at a fair. He proposed to the Dowager +Duchess of Milan, who replied that she might have thought of such a +match if she had had two heads; but, that only owning one, she must beg +to keep it safe. At last Cromwell represented that there was a +Protestant Princess in Germany—those who held the reformed religion +were called Protestants, because their leaders had Protested against +the abuses and impositions of the unreformed Church—named Anne of +Cleves, who was beautiful, and would answer the purpose admirably. The +King said was she a large woman, because he must have a fat wife? ‘O +yes,’ said Cromwell; ‘she was very large, just the thing.’ On hearing +this the King sent over his famous painter, Hans Holbein, to take her +portrait. Hans made her out to be so good-looking that the King was +satisfied, and the marriage was arranged. But, whether anybody had paid +Hans to touch up the picture; or whether Hans, like one or two other +painters, flattered a princess in the ordinary way of business, I +cannot say: all I know is, that when Anne came over and the King went +to Rochester to meet her, and first saw her without her seeing him, he +swore she was ‘a great Flanders mare,’ and said he would never marry +her. Being obliged to do it now matters had gone so far, he would not +give her the presents he had prepared, and would never notice her. He +never forgave Cromwell his part in the affair. His downfall dates from +that time. + +It was quickened by his enemies, in the interests of the unreformed +religion, putting in the King’s way, at a state dinner, a niece of the +Duke of Norfolk, Catherine Howard, a young lady of fascinating manners, +though small in stature and not particularly beautiful. Falling in love +with her on the spot, the King soon divorced Anne of Cleves after +making her the subject of much brutal talk, on pretence that she had +been previously betrothed to some one else—which would never do for one +of his dignity—and married Catherine. It is probable that on his +wedding day, of all days in the year, he sent his faithful Cromwell to +the scaffold, and had his head struck off. He further celebrated the +occasion by burning at one time, and causing to be drawn to the fire on +the same hurdles, some Protestant prisoners for denying the Pope’s +doctrines, and some Roman Catholic prisoners for denying his own +supremacy. Still the people bore it, and not a gentleman in England +raised his hand. + +But, by a just retribution, it soon came out that Catherine Howard, +before her marriage, had been really guilty of such crimes as the King +had falsely attributed to his second wife Anne Boleyn; so, again the +dreadful axe made the King a widower, and this Queen passed away as so +many in that reign had passed away before her. As an appropriate +pursuit under the circumstances, Henry then applied himself to +superintending the composition of a religious book called ‘A necessary +doctrine for any Christian Man.’ He must have been a little confused in +his mind, I think, at about this period; for he was so false to himself +as to be true to some one: that some one being Cranmer, whom the Duke +of Norfolk and others of his enemies tried to ruin; but to whom the +King was steadfast, and to whom he one night gave his ring, charging +him when he should find himself, next day, accused of treason, to show +it to the council board. This Cranmer did to the confusion of his +enemies. I suppose the King thought he might want him a little longer. + +He married yet once more. Yes, strange to say, he found in England +another woman who would become his wife, and she was Catherine Parr, +widow of Lord Latimer. She leaned towards the reformed religion; and it +is some comfort to know, that she tormented the King considerably by +arguing a variety of doctrinal points with him on all possible +occasions. She had very nearly done this to her own destruction. After +one of these conversations the King in a very black mood actually +instructed Gardiner, one of his Bishops who favoured the Popish +opinions, to draw a bill of accusation against her, which would have +inevitably brought her to the scaffold where her predecessors had died, +but that one of her friends picked up the paper of instructions which +had been dropped in the palace, and gave her timely notice. She fell +ill with terror; but managed the King so well when he came to entrap +her into further statements—by saying that she had only spoken on such +points to divert his mind and to get some information from his +extraordinary wisdom—that he gave her a kiss and called her his +sweetheart. And, when the Chancellor came next day actually to take her +to the Tower, the King sent him about his business, and honoured him +with the epithets of a beast, a knave, and a fool. So near was +Catherine Parr to the block, and so narrow was her escape! + +There was war with Scotland in this reign, and a short clumsy war with +France for favouring Scotland; but, the events at home were so +dreadful, and leave such an enduring stain on the country, that I need +say no more of what happened abroad. + +A few more horrors, and this reign is over. There was a lady, Anne +Askew, in Lincolnshire, who inclined to the Protestant opinions, and +whose husband being a fierce Catholic, turned her out of his house. She +came to London, and was considered as offending against the six +articles, and was taken to the Tower, and put upon the rack—probably +because it was hoped that she might, in her agony, criminate some +obnoxious persons; if falsely, so much the better. She was tortured +without uttering a cry, until the Lieutenant of the Tower would suffer +his men to torture her no more; and then two priests who were present +actually pulled off their robes, and turned the wheels of the rack with +their own hands, so rending and twisting and breaking her that she was +afterwards carried to the fire in a chair. She was burned with three +others, a gentleman, a clergyman, and a tailor; and so the world went +on. + +Either the King became afraid of the power of the Duke of Norfolk, and +his son the Earl of Surrey, or they gave him some offence, but he +resolved to pull _them_ down, to follow all the rest who were gone. The +son was tried first—of course for nothing—and defended himself bravely; +but of course he was found guilty, and of course he was executed. Then +his father was laid hold of, and left for death too. + +But the King himself was left for death by a Greater King, and the +earth was to be rid of him at last. He was now a swollen, hideous +spectacle, with a great hole in his leg, and so odious to every sense +that it was dreadful to approach him. When he was found to be dying, +Cranmer was sent for from his palace at Croydon, and came with all +speed, but found him speechless. Happily, in that hour he perished. He +was in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirty-eighth of his +reign. + +Henry the Eighth has been favoured by some Protestant writers, because +the Reformation was achieved in his time. But the mighty merit of it +lies with other men and not with him; and it can be rendered none the +worse by this monster’s crimes, and none the better by any defence of +them. The plain truth is, that he was a most intolerable ruffian, a +disgrace to human nature, and a blot of blood and grease upon the +History of England. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX +ENGLAND UNDER EDWARD THE SIXTH + + +Henry the Eighth had made a will, appointing a council of sixteen to +govern the kingdom for his son while he was under age (he was now only +ten years old), and another council of twelve to help them. The most +powerful of the first council was the Earl of Hertford, the young +King’s uncle, who lost no time in bringing his nephew with great state +up to Enfield, and thence to the Tower. It was considered at the time a +striking proof of virtue in the young King that he was sorry for his +father’s death; but, as common subjects have that virtue too, +sometimes, we will say no more about it. + +There was a curious part of the late King’s will, requiring his +executors to fulfil whatever promises he had made. Some of the court +wondering what these might be, the Earl of Hertford and the other +noblemen interested, said that they were promises to advance and enrich +_them_. So, the Earl of Hertford made himself Duke of Somerset, and +made his brother Edward Seymour a baron; and there were various similar +promotions, all very agreeable to the parties concerned, and very +dutiful, no doubt, to the late King’s memory. To be more dutiful still, +they made themselves rich out of the Church lands, and were very +comfortable. The new Duke of Somerset caused himself to be declared +Protector of the kingdom, and was, indeed, the King. + +As young Edward the Sixth had been brought up in the principles of the +Protestant religion, everybody knew that they would be maintained. But +Cranmer, to whom they were chiefly entrusted, advanced them steadily +and temperately. Many superstitious and ridiculous practices were +stopped; but practices which were harmless were not interfered with. + +The Duke of Somerset, the Protector, was anxious to have the young King +engaged in marriage to the young Queen of Scotland, in order to prevent +that princess from making an alliance with any foreign power; but, as a +large party in Scotland were unfavourable to this plan, he invaded that +country. His excuse for doing so was, that the Border men—that is, the +Scotch who lived in that part of the country where England and Scotland +joined—troubled the English very much. But there were two sides to this +question; for the English Border men troubled the Scotch too; and, +through many long years, there were perpetual border quarrels which +gave rise to numbers of old tales and songs. However, the Protector +invaded Scotland; and Arran, the Scottish Regent, with an army twice as +large as his, advanced to meet him. They encountered on the banks of +the river Esk, within a few miles of Edinburgh; and there, after a +little skirmish, the Protector made such moderate proposals, in +offering to retire if the Scotch would only engage not to marry their +princess to any foreign prince, that the Regent thought the English +were afraid. But in this he made a horrible mistake; for the English +soldiers on land, and the English sailors on the water, so set upon the +Scotch, that they broke and fled, and more than ten thousand of them +were killed. It was a dreadful battle, for the fugitives were slain +without mercy. The ground for four miles, all the way to Edinburgh, was +strewn with dead men, and with arms, and legs, and heads. Some hid +themselves in streams and were drowned; some threw away their armour +and were killed running, almost naked; but in this battle of Pinkey the +English lost only two or three hundred men. They were much better +clothed than the Scotch; at the poverty of whose appearance and country +they were exceedingly astonished. + +A Parliament was called when Somerset came back, and it repealed the +whip with six strings, and did one or two other good things; though it +unhappily retained the punishment of burning for those people who did +not make believe to believe, in all religious matters, what the +Government had declared that they must and should believe. It also made +a foolish law (meant to put down beggars), that any man who lived idly +and loitered about for three days together, should be burned with a hot +iron, made a slave, and wear an iron fetter. But this savage absurdity +soon came to an end, and went the way of a great many other foolish +laws. + +The Protector was now so proud that he sat in Parliament before all the +nobles, on the right hand of the throne. Many other noblemen, who only +wanted to be as proud if they could get a chance, became his enemies of +course; and it is supposed that he came back suddenly from Scotland +because he had received news that his brother, Lord Seymour, was +becoming dangerous to him. This lord was now High Admiral of England; a +very handsome man, and a great favourite with the Court ladies—even +with the young Princess Elizabeth, who romped with him a little more +than young princesses in these times do with any one. He had married +Catherine Parr, the late King’s widow, who was now dead; and, to +strengthen his power, he secretly supplied the young King with money. +He may even have engaged with some of his brother’s enemies in a plot +to carry the boy off. On these and other accusations, at any rate, he +was confined in the Tower, impeached, and found guilty; his own +brother’s name being—unnatural and sad to tell—the first signed to the +warrant of his execution. He was executed on Tower Hill, and died +denying his treason. One of his last proceedings in this world was to +write two letters, one to the Princess Elizabeth, and one to the +Princess Mary, which a servant of his took charge of, and concealed in +his shoe. These letters are supposed to have urged them against his +brother, and to revenge his death. What they truly contained is not +known; but there is no doubt that he had, at one time, obtained great +influence over the Princess Elizabeth. + +All this while, the Protestant religion was making progress. The images +which the people had gradually come to worship, were removed from the +churches; the people were informed that they need not confess +themselves to priests unless they chose; a common prayer-book was drawn +up in the English language, which all could understand, and many other +improvements were made; still moderately. For Cranmer was a very +moderate man, and even restrained the Protestant clergy from violently +abusing the unreformed religion—as they very often did, and which was +not a good example. But the people were at this time in great distress. +The rapacious nobility who had come into possession of the Church +lands, were very bad landlords. They enclosed great quantities of +ground for the feeding of sheep, which was then more profitable than +the growing of crops; and this increased the general distress. So the +people, who still understood little of what was going on about them, +and still readily believed what the homeless monks told them—many of +whom had been their good friends in their better days—took it into +their heads that all this was owing to the reformed religion, and +therefore rose, in many parts of the country. + +The most powerful risings were in Devonshire and Norfolk. In +Devonshire, the rebellion was so strong that ten thousand men united +within a few days, and even laid siege to Exeter. But Lord Russell, +coming to the assistance of the citizens who defended that town, +defeated the rebels; and, not only hanged the Mayor of one place, but +hanged the vicar of another from his own church steeple. What with +hanging and killing by the sword, four thousand of the rebels are +supposed to have fallen in that one county. In Norfolk (where the +rising was more against the enclosure of open lands than against the +reformed religion), the popular leader was a man named Robert Ket, a +tanner of Wymondham. The mob were, in the first instance, excited +against the tanner by one John Flowerdew, a gentleman who owed him a +grudge: but the tanner was more than a match for the gentleman, since +he soon got the people on his side, and established himself near +Norwich with quite an army. There was a large oak-tree in that place, +on a spot called Moushold Hill, which Ket named the Tree of +Reformation; and under its green boughs, he and his men sat, in the +midsummer weather, holding courts of justice, and debating affairs of +state. They were even impartial enough to allow some rather tiresome +public speakers to get up into this Tree of Reformation, and point out +their errors to them, in long discourses, while they lay listening (not +always without some grumbling and growling) in the shade below. At +last, one sunny July day, a herald appeared below the tree, and +proclaimed Ket and all his men traitors, unless from that moment they +dispersed and went home: in which case they were to receive a pardon. +But, Ket and his men made light of the herald and became stronger than +ever, until the Earl of Warwick went after them with a sufficient +force, and cut them all to pieces. A few were hanged, drawn, and +quartered, as traitors, and their limbs were sent into various country +places to be a terror to the people. Nine of them were hanged upon nine +green branches of the Oak of Reformation; and so, for the time, that +tree may be said to have withered away. + +The Protector, though a haughty man, had compassion for the real +distresses of the common people, and a sincere desire to help them. But +he was too proud and too high in degree to hold even their favour +steadily; and many of the nobles always envied and hated him, because +they were as proud and not as high as he. He was at this time building +a great Palace in the Strand: to get the stone for which he blew up +church steeples with gunpowder, and pulled down bishops’ houses: thus +making himself still more disliked. At length, his principal enemy, the +Earl of Warwick—Dudley by name, and the son of that Dudley who had made +himself so odious with Empson, in the reign of Henry the Seventh—joined +with seven other members of the Council against him, formed a separate +Council; and, becoming stronger in a few days, sent him to the Tower +under twenty-nine articles of accusation. After being sentenced by the +Council to the forfeiture of all his offices and lands, he was +liberated and pardoned, on making a very humble submission. He was even +taken back into the Council again, after having suffered this fall, and +married his daughter, Lady Anne Seymour, to Warwick’s eldest son. But +such a reconciliation was little likely to last, and did not outlive a +year. Warwick, having got himself made Duke of Northumberland, and +having advanced the more important of his friends, then finished the +history by causing the Duke of Somerset and his friend Lord Grey, and +others, to be arrested for treason, in having conspired to seize and +dethrone the King. They were also accused of having intended to seize +the new Duke of Northumberland, with his friends Lord Northampton and +Lord Pembroke; to murder them if they found need; and to raise the City +to revolt. All this the fallen Protector positively denied; except that +he confessed to having spoken of the murder of those three noblemen, +but having never designed it. He was acquitted of the charge of +treason, and found guilty of the other charges; so when the people—who +remembered his having been their friend, now that he was disgraced and +in danger, saw him come out from his trial with the axe turned from +him—they thought he was altogether acquitted, and sent up a loud shout +of joy. + +But the Duke of Somerset was ordered to be beheaded on Tower Hill, at +eight o’clock in the morning, and proclamations were issued bidding the +citizens keep at home until after ten. They filled the streets, +however, and crowded the place of execution as soon as it was light; +and, with sad faces and sad hearts, saw the once powerful Protector +ascend the scaffold to lay his head upon the dreadful block. While he +was yet saying his last words to them with manly courage, and telling +them, in particular, how it comforted him, at that pass, to have +assisted in reforming the national religion, a member of the Council +was seen riding up on horseback. They again thought that the Duke was +saved by his bringing a reprieve, and again shouted for joy. But the +Duke himself told them they were mistaken, and laid down his head and +had it struck off at a blow. + +Many of the bystanders rushed forward and steeped their handkerchiefs +in his blood, as a mark of their affection. He had, indeed, been +capable of many good acts, and one of them was discovered after he was +no more. The Bishop of Durham, a very good man, had been informed +against to the Council, when the Duke was in power, as having answered +a treacherous letter proposing a rebellion against the reformed +religion. As the answer could not be found, he could not be declared +guilty; but it was now discovered, hidden by the Duke himself among +some private papers, in his regard for that good man. The Bishop lost +his office, and was deprived of his possessions. + +It is not very pleasant to know that while his uncle lay in prison +under sentence of death, the young King was being vastly entertained by +plays, and dances, and sham fights: but there is no doubt of it, for he +kept a journal himself. It is pleasanter to know that not a single +Roman Catholic was burnt in this reign for holding that religion; +though two wretched victims suffered for heresy. One, a woman named +Joan Bocher, for professing some opinions that even she could only +explain in unintelligible jargon. The other, a Dutchman, named Von +Paris, who practised as a surgeon in London. Edward was, to his credit, +exceedingly unwilling to sign the warrant for the woman’s execution: +shedding tears before he did so, and telling Cranmer, who urged him to +do it (though Cranmer really would have spared the woman at first, but +for her own determined obstinacy), that the guilt was not his, but that +of the man who so strongly urged the dreadful act. We shall see, too +soon, whether the time ever came when Cranmer is likely to have +remembered this with sorrow and remorse. + +Cranmer and Ridley (at first Bishop of Rochester, and afterwards Bishop +of London) were the most powerful of the clergy of this reign. Others +were imprisoned and deprived of their property for still adhering to +the unreformed religion; the most important among whom were Gardiner +Bishop of Winchester, Heath Bishop of Worcester, Day Bishop of +Chichester, and Bonner that Bishop of London who was superseded by +Ridley. The Princess Mary, who inherited her mother’s gloomy temper, +and hated the reformed religion as connected with her mother’s wrongs +and sorrows—she knew nothing else about it, always refusing to read a +single book in which it was truly described—held by the unreformed +religion too, and was the only person in the kingdom for whom the old +Mass was allowed to be performed; nor would the young King have made +that exception even in her favour, but for the strong persuasions of +Cranmer and Ridley. He always viewed it with horror; and when he fell +into a sickly condition, after having been very ill, first of the +measles and then of the small-pox, he was greatly troubled in mind to +think that if he died, and she, the next heir to the throne, succeeded, +the Roman Catholic religion would be set up again. + +This uneasiness, the Duke of Northumberland was not slow to encourage: +for, if the Princess Mary came to the throne, he, who had taken part +with the Protestants, was sure to be disgraced. Now, the Duchess of +Suffolk was descended from King Henry the Seventh; and, if she resigned +what little or no right she had, in favour of her daughter Lady Jane +Grey, that would be the succession to promote the Duke’s greatness; +because Lord Guilford Dudley, one of his sons, was, at this very time, +newly married to her. So, he worked upon the King’s fears, and +persuaded him to set aside both the Princess Mary and the Princess +Elizabeth, and assert his right to appoint his successor. Accordingly +the young King handed to the Crown lawyers a writing signed half a +dozen times over by himself, appointing Lady Jane Grey to succeed to +the Crown, and requiring them to have his will made out according to +law. They were much against it at first, and told the King so; but the +Duke of Northumberland—being so violent about it that the lawyers even +expected him to beat them, and hotly declaring that, stripped to his +shirt, he would fight any man in such a quarrel—they yielded. Cranmer, +also, at first hesitated; pleading that he had sworn to maintain the +succession of the Crown to the Princess Mary; but, he was a weak man in +his resolutions, and afterwards signed the document with the rest of +the council. + +It was completed none too soon; for Edward was now sinking in a rapid +decline; and, by way of making him better, they handed him over to a +woman-doctor who pretended to be able to cure it. He speedily got +worse. On the sixth of July, in the year one thousand five hundred and +fifty-three, he died, very peaceably and piously, praying God, with his +last breath, to protect the reformed religion. + +This King died in the sixteenth year of his age, and in the seventh of +his reign. It is difficult to judge what the character of one so young +might afterwards have become among so many bad, ambitious, quarrelling +nobles. But, he was an amiable boy, of very good abilities, and had +nothing coarse or cruel or brutal in his disposition—which in the son +of such a father is rather surprising. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX +ENGLAND UNDER MARY + + +The Duke of Northumberland was very anxious to keep the young King’s +death a secret, in order that he might get the two Princesses into his +power. But, the Princess Mary, being informed of that event as she was +on her way to London to see her sick brother, turned her horse’s head, +and rode away into Norfolk. The Earl of Arundel was her friend, and it +was he who sent her warning of what had happened. + +As the secret could not be kept, the Duke of Northumberland and the +council sent for the Lord Mayor of London and some of the aldermen, and +made a merit of telling it to them. Then, they made it known to the +people, and set off to inform Lady Jane Grey that she was to be Queen. + +She was a pretty girl of only sixteen, and was amiable, learned, and +clever. When the lords who came to her, fell on their knees before her, +and told her what tidings they brought, she was so astonished that she +fainted. On recovering, she expressed her sorrow for the young King’s +death, and said that she knew she was unfit to govern the kingdom; but +that if she must be Queen, she prayed God to direct her. She was then +at Sion House, near Brentford; and the lords took her down the river in +state to the Tower, that she might remain there (as the custom was) +until she was crowned. But the people were not at all favourable to +Lady Jane, considering that the right to be Queen was Mary’s, and +greatly disliking the Duke of Northumberland. They were not put into a +better humour by the Duke’s causing a vintner’s servant, one Gabriel +Pot, to be taken up for expressing his dissatisfaction among the crowd, +and to have his ears nailed to the pillory, and cut off. Some powerful +men among the nobility declared on Mary’s side. They raised troops to +support her cause, had her proclaimed Queen at Norwich, and gathered +around her at the castle of Framlingham, which belonged to the Duke of +Norfolk. For, she was not considered so safe as yet, but that it was +best to keep her in a castle on the sea-coast, from whence she might be +sent abroad, if necessary. + +The Council would have despatched Lady Jane’s father, the Duke of +Suffolk, as the general of the army against this force; but, as Lady +Jane implored that her father might remain with her, and as he was +known to be but a weak man, they told the Duke of Northumberland that +he must take the command himself. He was not very ready to do so, as he +mistrusted the Council much; but there was no help for it, and he set +forth with a heavy heart, observing to a lord who rode beside him +through Shoreditch at the head of the troops, that, although the people +pressed in great numbers to look at them, they were terribly silent. + +And his fears for himself turned out to be well founded. While he was +waiting at Cambridge for further help from the Council, the Council +took it into their heads to turn their backs on Lady Jane’s cause, and +to take up the Princess Mary’s. This was chiefly owing to the +before-mentioned Earl of Arundel, who represented to the Lord Mayor and +aldermen, in a second interview with those sagacious persons, that, as +for himself, he did not perceive the Reformed religion to be in much +danger—which Lord Pembroke backed by flourishing his sword as another +kind of persuasion. The Lord Mayor and aldermen, thus enlightened, said +there could be no doubt that the Princess Mary ought to be Queen. So, +she was proclaimed at the Cross by St. Paul’s, and barrels of wine were +given to the people, and they got very drunk, and danced round blazing +bonfires—little thinking, poor wretches, what other bonfires would soon +be blazing in Queen Mary’s name. + +After a ten days’ dream of royalty, Lady Jane Grey resigned the Crown +with great willingness, saying that she had only accepted it in +obedience to her father and mother; and went gladly back to her +pleasant house by the river, and her books. Mary then came on towards +London; and at Wanstead in Essex, was joined by her half-sister, the +Princess Elizabeth. They passed through the streets of London to the +Tower, and there the new Queen met some eminent prisoners then confined +in it, kissed them, and gave them their liberty. Among these was that +Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, who had been imprisoned in the last +reign for holding to the unreformed religion. Him she soon made +chancellor. + +The Duke of Northumberland had been taken prisoner, and, together with +his son and five others, was quickly brought before the Council. He, +not unnaturally, asked that Council, in his defence, whether it was +treason to obey orders that had been issued under the great seal; and, +if it were, whether they, who had obeyed them too, ought to be his +judges? But they made light of these points; and, being resolved to +have him out of the way, soon sentenced him to death. He had risen into +power upon the death of another man, and made but a poor show (as might +be expected) when he himself lay low. He entreated Gardiner to let him +live, if it were only in a mouse’s hole; and, when he ascended the +scaffold to be beheaded on Tower Hill, addressed the people in a +miserable way, saying that he had been incited by others, and exhorting +them to return to the unreformed religion, which he told them was his +faith. There seems reason to suppose that he expected a pardon even +then, in return for this confession; but it matters little whether he +did or not. His head was struck off. + +Mary was now crowned Queen. She was thirty-seven years of age, short +and thin, wrinkled in the face, and very unhealthy. But she had a great +liking for show and for bright colours, and all the ladies of her Court +were magnificently dressed. She had a great liking too for old customs, +without much sense in them; and she was oiled in the oldest way, and +blessed in the oldest way, and done all manner of things to in the +oldest way, at her coronation. I hope they did her good. + +She soon began to show her desire to put down the Reformed religion, +and put up the unreformed one: though it was dangerous work as yet, the +people being something wiser than they used to be. They even cast a +shower of stones—and among them a dagger—at one of the royal chaplains +who attacked the Reformed religion in a public sermon. But the Queen +and her priests went steadily on. Ridley, the powerful bishop of the +last reign, was seized and sent to the Tower. Latimer, also celebrated +among the Clergy of the last reign, was likewise sent to the Tower, and +Cranmer speedily followed. Latimer was an aged man; and, as his guards +took him through Smithfield, he looked round it, and said, ‘This is a +place that hath long groaned for me.’ For he knew well, what kind of +bonfires would soon be burning. Nor was the knowledge confined to him. +The prisons were fast filled with the chief Protestants, who were there +left rotting in darkness, hunger, dirt, and separation from their +friends; many, who had time left them for escape, fled from the +kingdom; and the dullest of the people began, now, to see what was +coming. + +It came on fast. A Parliament was got together; not without strong +suspicion of unfairness; and they annulled the divorce, formerly +pronounced by Cranmer between the Queen’s mother and King Henry the +Eighth, and unmade all the laws on the subject of religion that had +been made in the last King Edward’s reign. They began their +proceedings, in violation of the law, by having the old mass said +before them in Latin, and by turning out a bishop who would not kneel +down. They also declared guilty of treason, Lady Jane Grey for aspiring +to the Crown; her husband, for being her husband; and Cranmer, for not +believing in the mass aforesaid. They then prayed the Queen graciously +to choose a husband for herself, as soon as might be. + +Now, the question who should be the Queen’s husband had given rise to a +great deal of discussion, and to several contending parties. Some said +Cardinal Pole was the man—but the Queen was of opinion that he was +_not_ the man, he being too old and too much of a student. Others said +that the gallant young Courtenay, whom the Queen had made Earl of +Devonshire, was the man—and the Queen thought so too, for a while; but +she changed her mind. At last it appeared that Philip, Prince of Spain, +was certainly the man—though certainly not the people’s man; for they +detested the idea of such a marriage from the beginning to the end, and +murmured that the Spaniard would establish in England, by the aid of +foreign soldiers, the worst abuses of the Popish religion, and even the +terrible Inquisition itself. + +These discontents gave rise to a conspiracy for marrying young +Courtenay to the Princess Elizabeth, and setting them up, with popular +tumults all over the kingdom, against the Queen. This was discovered in +time by Gardiner; but in Kent, the old bold county, the people rose in +their old bold way. Sir Thomas Wyat, a man of great daring, was their +leader. He raised his standard at Maidstone, marched on to Rochester, +established himself in the old castle there, and prepared to hold out +against the Duke of Norfolk, who came against him with a party of the +Queen’s guards, and a body of five hundred London men. The London men, +however, were all for Elizabeth, and not at all for Mary. They +declared, under the castle walls, for Wyat; the Duke retreated; and +Wyat came on to Deptford, at the head of fifteen thousand men. + +But these, in their turn, fell away. When he came to Southwark, there +were only two thousand left. Not dismayed by finding the London +citizens in arms, and the guns at the Tower ready to oppose his +crossing the river there, Wyat led them off to Kingston-upon-Thames, +intending to cross the bridge that he knew to be in that place, and so +to work his way round to Ludgate, one of the old gates of the City. He +found the bridge broken down, but mended it, came across, and bravely +fought his way up Fleet Street to Ludgate Hill. Finding the gate closed +against him, he fought his way back again, sword in hand, to Temple +Bar. Here, being overpowered, he surrendered himself, and three or four +hundred of his men were taken, besides a hundred killed. Wyat, in a +moment of weakness (and perhaps of torture) was afterwards made to +accuse the Princess Elizabeth as his accomplice to some very small +extent. But his manhood soon returned to him, and he refused to save +his life by making any more false confessions. He was quartered and +distributed in the usual brutal way, and from fifty to a hundred of his +followers were hanged. The rest were led out, with halters round their +necks, to be pardoned, and to make a parade of crying out, ‘God save +Queen Mary!’ + +In the danger of this rebellion, the Queen showed herself to be a woman +of courage and spirit. She disdained to retreat to any place of safety, +and went down to the Guildhall, sceptre in hand, and made a gallant +speech to the Lord Mayor and citizens. But on the day after Wyat’s +defeat, she did the most cruel act, even of her cruel reign, in signing +the warrant for the execution of Lady Jane Grey. + +They tried to persuade Lady Jane to accept the unreformed religion; but +she steadily refused. On the morning when she was to die, she saw from +her window the bleeding and headless body of her husband brought back +in a cart from the scaffold on Tower Hill where he had laid down his +life. But, as she had declined to see him before his execution, lest +she should be overpowered and not make a good end, so, she even now +showed a constancy and calmness that will never be forgotten. She came +up to the scaffold with a firm step and a quiet face, and addressed the +bystanders in a steady voice. They were not numerous; for she was too +young, too innocent and fair, to be murdered before the people on Tower +Hill, as her husband had just been; so, the place of her execution was +within the Tower itself. She said that she had done an unlawful act in +taking what was Queen Mary’s right; but that she had done so with no +bad intent, and that she died a humble Christian. She begged the +executioner to despatch her quickly, and she asked him, ‘Will you take +my head off before I lay me down?’ He answered, ‘No, Madam,’ and then +she was very quiet while they bandaged her eyes. Being blinded, and +unable to see the block on which she was to lay her young head, she was +seen to feel about for it with her hands, and was heard to say, +confused, ‘O what shall I do! Where is it?’ Then they guided her to the +right place, and the executioner struck off her head. You know too +well, now, what dreadful deeds the executioner did in England, through +many, many years, and how his axe descended on the hateful block +through the necks of some of the bravest, wisest, and best in the land. +But it never struck so cruel and so vile a blow as this. + +The father of Lady Jane soon followed, but was little pitied. Queen +Mary’s next object was to lay hold of Elizabeth, and this was pursued +with great eagerness. Five hundred men were sent to her retired house +at Ashridge, by Berkhampstead, with orders to bring her up, alive or +dead. They got there at ten at night, when she was sick in bed. But, +their leaders followed her lady into her bedchamber, whence she was +brought out betimes next morning, and put into a litter to be conveyed +to London. She was so weak and ill, that she was five days on the road; +still, she was so resolved to be seen by the people that she had the +curtains of the litter opened; and so, very pale and sickly, passed +through the streets. She wrote to her sister, saying she was innocent +of any crime, and asking why she was made a prisoner; but she got no +answer, and was ordered to the Tower. They took her in by the Traitor’s +Gate, to which she objected, but in vain. One of the lords who conveyed +her offered to cover her with his cloak, as it was raining, but she put +it away from her, proudly and scornfully, and passed into the Tower, +and sat down in a court-yard on a stone. They besought her to come in +out of the wet; but she answered that it was better sitting there, than +in a worse place. At length she went to her apartment, where she was +kept a prisoner, though not so close a prisoner as at Woodstock, +whither she was afterwards removed, and where she is said to have one +day envied a milkmaid whom she heard singing in the sunshine as she +went through the green fields. Gardiner, than whom there were not many +worse men among the fierce and sullen priests, cared little to keep +secret his stern desire for her death: being used to say that it was of +little service to shake off the leaves, and lop the branches of the +tree of heresy, if its root, the hope of heretics, were left. He +failed, however, in his benevolent design. Elizabeth was, at length, +released; and Hatfield House was assigned to her as a residence, under +the care of one Sir Thomas Pope. + +It would seem that Philip, the Prince of Spain, was a main cause of +this change in Elizabeth’s fortunes. He was not an amiable man, being, +on the contrary, proud, overbearing, and gloomy; but he and the Spanish +lords who came over with him, assuredly did discountenance the idea of +doing any violence to the Princess. It may have been mere prudence, but +we will hope it was manhood and honour. The Queen had been expecting +her husband with great impatience, and at length he came, to her great +joy, though he never cared much for her. They were married by Gardiner, +at Winchester, and there was more holiday-making among the people; but +they had their old distrust of this Spanish marriage, in which even the +Parliament shared. Though the members of that Parliament were far from +honest, and were strongly suspected to have been bought with Spanish +money, they would pass no bill to enable the Queen to set aside the +Princess Elizabeth and appoint her own successor. + +Although Gardiner failed in this object, as well as in the darker one +of bringing the Princess to the scaffold, he went on at a great pace in +the revival of the unreformed religion. A new Parliament was packed, in +which there were no Protestants. Preparations were made to receive +Cardinal Pole in England as the Pope’s messenger, bringing his holy +declaration that all the nobility who had acquired Church property, +should keep it—which was done to enlist their selfish interest on the +Pope’s side. Then a great scene was enacted, which was the triumph of +the Queen’s plans. Cardinal Pole arrived in great splendour and +dignity, and was received with great pomp. The Parliament joined in a +petition expressive of their sorrow at the change in the national +religion, and praying him to receive the country again into the Popish +Church. With the Queen sitting on her throne, and the King on one side +of her, and the Cardinal on the other, and the Parliament present, +Gardiner read the petition aloud. The Cardinal then made a great +speech, and was so obliging as to say that all was forgotten and +forgiven, and that the kingdom was solemnly made Roman Catholic again. + +Everything was now ready for the lighting of the terrible bonfires. The +Queen having declared to the Council, in writing, that she would wish +none of her subjects to be burnt without some of the Council being +present, and that she would particularly wish there to be good sermons +at all burnings, the Council knew pretty well what was to be done next. +So, after the Cardinal had blessed all the bishops as a preface to the +burnings, the Chancellor Gardiner opened a High Court at Saint Mary +Overy, on the Southwark side of London Bridge, for the trial of +heretics. Here, two of the late Protestant clergymen, Hooper, Bishop of +Gloucester, and Rogers, a Prebendary of St. Paul’s, were brought to be +tried. Hooper was tried first for being married, though a priest, and +for not believing in the mass. He admitted both of these accusations, +and said that the mass was a wicked imposition. Then they tried Rogers, +who said the same. Next morning the two were brought up to be +sentenced; and then Rogers said that his poor wife, being a German +woman and a stranger in the land, he hoped might be allowed to come to +speak to him before he died. To this the inhuman Gardiner replied, that +she was not his wife. ‘Yea, but she is, my lord,’ said Rogers, ‘and she +hath been my wife these eighteen years.’ His request was still refused, +and they were both sent to Newgate; all those who stood in the streets +to sell things, being ordered to put out their lights that the people +might not see them. But, the people stood at their doors with candles +in their hands, and prayed for them as they went by. Soon afterwards, +Rogers was taken out of jail to be burnt in Smithfield; and, in the +crowd as he went along, he saw his poor wife and his ten children, of +whom the youngest was a little baby. And so he was burnt to death. + +The next day, Hooper, who was to be burnt at Gloucester, was brought +out to take his last journey, and was made to wear a hood over his face +that he might not be known by the people. But, they did know him for +all that, down in his own part of the country; and, when he came near +Gloucester, they lined the road, making prayers and lamentations. His +guards took him to a lodging, where he slept soundly all night. At nine +o’clock next morning, he was brought forth leaning on a staff; for he +had taken cold in prison, and was infirm. The iron stake, and the iron +chain which was to bind him to it, were fixed up near a great elm-tree +in a pleasant open place before the cathedral, where, on peaceful +Sundays, he had been accustomed to preach and to pray, when he was +bishop of Gloucester. This tree, which had no leaves then, it being +February, was filled with people; and the priests of Gloucester College +were looking complacently on from a window, and there was a great +concourse of spectators in every spot from which a glimpse of the +dreadful sight could be beheld. When the old man kneeled down on the +small platform at the foot of the stake, and prayed aloud, the nearest +people were observed to be so attentive to his prayers that they were +ordered to stand farther back; for it did not suit the Romish Church to +have those Protestant words heard. His prayers concluded, he went up to +the stake and was stripped to his shirt, and chained ready for the +fire. One of his guards had such compassion on him that, to shorten his +agonies, he tied some packets of gunpowder about him. Then they heaped +up wood and straw and reeds, and set them all alight. But, unhappily, +the wood was green and damp, and there was a wind blowing that blew +what flame there was, away. Thus, through three-quarters of an hour, +the good old man was scorched and roasted and smoked, as the fire rose +and sank; and all that time they saw him, as he burned, moving his lips +in prayer, and beating his breast with one hand, even after the other +was burnt away and had fallen off. + +Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, were taken to Oxford to dispute with a +commission of priests and doctors about the mass. They were shamefully +treated; and it is recorded that the Oxford scholars hissed and howled +and groaned, and misconducted themselves in an anything but a scholarly +way. The prisoners were taken back to jail, and afterwards tried in St. +Mary’s Church. They were all found guilty. On the sixteenth of the +month of October, Ridley and Latimer were brought out, to make another +of the dreadful bonfires. + +The scene of the suffering of these two good Protestant men was in the +City ditch, near Baliol College. On coming to the dreadful spot, they +kissed the stakes, and then embraced each other. And then a learned +doctor got up into a pulpit which was placed there, and preached a +sermon from the text, ‘Though I give my body to be burned, and have not +charity, it profiteth me nothing.’ When you think of the charity of +burning men alive, you may imagine that this learned doctor had a +rather brazen face. Ridley would have answered his sermon when it came +to an end, but was not allowed. When Latimer was stripped, it appeared +that he had dressed himself under his other clothes, in a new shroud; +and, as he stood in it before all the people, it was noted of him, and +long remembered, that, whereas he had been stooping and feeble but a +few minutes before, he now stood upright and handsome, in the knowledge +that he was dying for a just and a great cause. Ridley’s brother-in-law +was there with bags of gunpowder; and when they were both chained up, +he tied them round their bodies. Then, a light was thrown upon the pile +to fire it. ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley,’ said Latimer, at that +awful moment, ‘and play the man! We shall this day light such a candle, +by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.’ And +then he was seen to make motions with his hands as if he were washing +them in the flames, and to stroke his aged face with them, and was +heard to cry, ‘Father of Heaven, receive my soul!’ He died quickly, but +the fire, after having burned the legs of Ridley, sunk. There he +lingered, chained to the iron post, and crying, ‘O! I cannot burn! O! +for Christ’s sake let the fire come unto me!’ And still, when his +brother-in-law had heaped on more wood, he was heard through the +blinding smoke, still dismally crying, ‘O! I cannot burn, I cannot +burn!’ At last, the gunpowder caught fire, and ended his miseries. + +Five days after this fearful scene, Gardiner went to his tremendous +account before God, for the cruelties he had so much assisted in +committing. + +Cranmer remained still alive and in prison. He was brought out again in +February, for more examining and trying, by Bonner, Bishop of London: +another man of blood, who had succeeded to Gardiner’s work, even in his +lifetime, when Gardiner was tired of it. Cranmer was now degraded as a +priest, and left for death; but, if the Queen hated any one on earth, +she hated him, and it was resolved that he should be ruined and +disgraced to the utmost. There is no doubt that the Queen and her +husband personally urged on these deeds, because they wrote to the +Council, urging them to be active in the kindling of the fearful fires. +As Cranmer was known not to be a firm man, a plan was laid for +surrounding him with artful people, and inducing him to recant to the +unreformed religion. Deans and friars visited him, played at bowls with +him, showed him various attentions, talked persuasively with him, gave +him money for his prison comforts, and induced him to sign, I fear, as +many as six recantations. But when, after all, he was taken out to be +burnt, he was nobly true to his better self, and made a glorious end. + +After prayers and a sermon, Dr. Cole, the preacher of the day (who had +been one of the artful priests about Cranmer in prison), required him +to make a public confession of his faith before the people. This, Cole +did, expecting that he would declare himself a Roman Catholic. ‘I will +make a profession of my faith,’ said Cranmer, ‘and with a good will +too.’ + +Then, he arose before them all, and took from the sleeve of his robe a +written prayer and read it aloud. That done, he kneeled and said the +Lord’s Prayer, all the people joining; and then he arose again and told +them that he believed in the Bible, and that in what he had lately +written, he had written what was not the truth, and that, because his +right hand had signed those papers, he would burn his right hand first +when he came to the fire. As for the Pope, he did refuse him and +denounce him as the enemy of Heaven. Hereupon the pious Dr. Cole cried +out to the guards to stop that heretic’s mouth and take him away. + +So they took him away, and chained him to the stake, where he hastily +took off his own clothes to make ready for the flames. And he stood +before the people with a bald head and a white and flowing beard. He +was so firm now when the worst was come, that he again declared against +his recantation, and was so impressive and so undismayed, that a +certain lord, who was one of the directors of the execution, called out +to the men to make haste! When the fire was lighted, Cranmer, true to +his latest word, stretched out his right hand, and crying out, ‘This +hand hath offended!’ held it among the flames, until it blazed and +burned away. His heart was found entire among his ashes, and he left at +last a memorable name in English history. Cardinal Pole celebrated the +day by saying his first mass, and next day he was made Archbishop of +Canterbury in Cranmer’s place. + +The Queen’s husband, who was now mostly abroad in his own dominions, +and generally made a coarse jest of her to his more familiar courtiers, +was at war with France, and came over to seek the assistance of +England. England was very unwilling to engage in a French war for his +sake; but it happened that the King of France, at this very time, aided +a descent upon the English coast. Hence, war was declared, greatly to +Philip’s satisfaction; and the Queen raised a sum of money with which +to carry it on, by every unjustifiable means in her power. It met with +no profitable return, for the French Duke of Guise surprised Calais, +and the English sustained a complete defeat. The losses they met with +in France greatly mortified the national pride, and the Queen never +recovered the blow. + +There was a bad fever raging in England at this time, and I am glad to +write that the Queen took it, and the hour of her death came. ‘When I +am dead and my body is opened,’ she said to those around those around +her, ‘ye shall find Calais written on my heart.’ I should have thought, +if anything were written on it, they would have found the words—Jane +Grey, Hooper, Rogers, Ridley, Latimer, Cranmer, and three hundred +people burnt alive within four years of my wicked reign, including +sixty women and forty little children. But it is enough that their +deaths were written in Heaven. + +The Queen died on the seventeenth of November, fifteen hundred and +fifty-eight, after reigning not quite five years and a half, and in the +forty-fourth year of her age. Cardinal Pole died of the same fever next +day. + +As Bloody Queen Mary, this woman has become famous, and as Bloody Queen +Mary, she will ever be justly remembered with horror and detestation in +Great Britain. Her memory has been held in such abhorrence that some +writers have arisen in later years to take her part, and to show that +she was, upon the whole, quite an amiable and cheerful sovereign! ‘By +their fruits ye shall know them,’ said Our Saviour. The stake and the +fire were the fruits of this reign, and you will judge this Queen by +nothing else. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI +ENGLAND UNDER ELIZABETH + + +There was great rejoicing all over the land when the Lords of the +Council went down to Hatfield, to hail the Princess Elizabeth as the +new Queen of England. Weary of the barbarities of Mary’s reign, the +people looked with hope and gladness to the new Sovereign. The nation +seemed to wake from a horrible dream; and Heaven, so long hidden by the +smoke of the fires that roasted men and women to death, appeared to +brighten once more. + +Queen Elizabeth was five-and-twenty years of age when she rode through +the streets of London, from the Tower to Westminster Abbey, to be +crowned. Her countenance was strongly marked, but on the whole, +commanding and dignified; her hair was red, and her nose something too +long and sharp for a woman’s. She was not the beautiful creature her +courtiers made out; but she was well enough, and no doubt looked all +the better for coming after the dark and gloomy Mary. She was well +educated, but a roundabout writer, and rather a hard swearer and coarse +talker. She was clever, but cunning and deceitful, and inherited much +of her father’s violent temper. I mention this now, because she has +been so over-praised by one party, and so over-abused by another, that +it is hardly possible to understand the greater part of her reign +without first understanding what kind of woman she really was. + +She began her reign with the great advantage of having a very wise and +careful Minister, Sir William Cecil, whom she afterwards made Lord +Burleigh. Altogether, the people had greater reason for rejoicing than +they usually had, when there were processions in the streets; and they +were happy with some reason. All kinds of shows and images were set up; +Gog and Magog were hoisted to the top of Temple Bar, and (which was +more to the purpose) the Corporation dutifully presented the young +Queen with the sum of a thousand marks in gold—so heavy a present, that +she was obliged to take it into her carriage with both hands. The +coronation was a great success; and, on the next day, one of the +courtiers presented a petition to the new Queen, praying that as it was +the custom to release some prisoners on such occasions, she would have +the goodness to release the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and +John, and also the Apostle Saint Paul, who had been for some time shut +up in a strange language so that the people could not get at them. + +To this, the Queen replied that it would be better first to inquire of +themselves whether they desired to be released or not; and, as a means +of finding out, a great public discussion—a sort of religious +tournament—was appointed to take place between certain champions of the +two religions, in Westminster Abbey. You may suppose that it was soon +made pretty clear to common sense, that for people to benefit by what +they repeat or read, it is rather necessary they should understand +something about it. Accordingly, a Church Service in plain English was +settled, and other laws and regulations were made, completely +establishing the great work of the Reformation. The Romish bishops and +champions were not harshly dealt with, all things considered; and the +Queen’s Ministers were both prudent and merciful. + +The one great trouble of this reign, and the unfortunate cause of the +greater part of such turmoil and bloodshed as occurred in it, was Mary +Stuart, Queen of Scots. We will try to understand, in as few words as +possible, who Mary was, what she was, and how she came to be a thorn in +the royal pillow of Elizabeth. + +She was the daughter of the Queen Regent of Scotland, Mary of Guise. +She had been married, when a mere child, to the Dauphin, the son and +heir of the King of France. The Pope, who pretended that no one could +rightfully wear the crown of England without his gracious permission, +was strongly opposed to Elizabeth, who had not asked for the said +gracious permission. And as Mary Queen of Scots would have inherited +the English crown in right of her birth, supposing the English +Parliament not to have altered the succession, the Pope himself, and +most of the discontented who were followers of his, maintained that +Mary was the rightful Queen of England, and Elizabeth the wrongful +Queen. Mary being so closely connected with France, and France being +jealous of England, there was far greater danger in this than there +would have been if she had had no alliance with that great power. And +when her young husband, on the death of his father, became Francis the +Second, King of France, the matter grew very serious. For, the young +couple styled themselves King and Queen of England, and the Pope was +disposed to help them by doing all the mischief he could. + +Now, the reformed religion, under the guidance of a stern and powerful +preacher, named John Knox, and other such men, had been making fierce +progress in Scotland. It was still a half savage country, where there +was a great deal of murdering and rioting continually going on; and the +Reformers, instead of reforming those evils as they should have done, +went to work in the ferocious old Scottish spirit, laying churches and +chapels waste, pulling down pictures and altars, and knocking about the +Grey Friars, and the Black Friars, and the White Friars, and the friars +of all sorts of colours, in all directions. This obdurate and harsh +spirit of the Scottish Reformers (the Scotch have always been rather a +sullen and frowning people in religious matters) put up the blood of +the Romish French court, and caused France to send troops over to +Scotland, with the hope of setting the friars of all sorts of colours +on their legs again; of conquering that country first, and England +afterwards; and so crushing the Reformation all to pieces. The Scottish +Reformers, who had formed a great league which they called The +Congregation of the Lord, secretly represented to Elizabeth that, if +the reformed religion got the worst of it with them, it would be likely +to get the worst of it in England too; and thus, Elizabeth, though she +had a high notion of the rights of Kings and Queens to do anything they +liked, sent an army to Scotland to support the Reformers, who were in +arms against their sovereign. All these proceedings led to a treaty of +peace at Edinburgh, under which the French consented to depart from the +kingdom. By a separate treaty, Mary and her young husband engaged to +renounce their assumed title of King and Queen of England. But this +treaty they never fulfilled. + +It happened, soon after matters had got to this state, that the young +French King died, leaving Mary a young widow. She was then invited by +her Scottish subjects to return home and reign over them; and as she +was not now happy where she was, she, after a little time, complied. + +Elizabeth had been Queen three years, when Mary Queen of Scots embarked +at Calais for her own rough, quarrelling country. As she came out of +the harbour, a vessel was lost before her eyes, and she said, ‘O! good +God! what an omen this is for such a voyage!’ She was very fond of +France, and sat on the deck, looking back at it and weeping, until it +was quite dark. When she went to bed, she directed to be called at +daybreak, if the French coast were still visible, that she might behold +it for the last time. As it proved to be a clear morning, this was +done, and she again wept for the country she was leaving, and said many +times, ‘Farewell, France! Farewell, France! I shall never see thee +again!’ All this was long remembered afterwards, as sorrowful and +interesting in a fair young princess of nineteen. Indeed, I am afraid +it gradually came, together with her other distresses, to surround her +with greater sympathy than she deserved. + +When she came to Scotland, and took up her abode at the palace of +Holyrood in Edinburgh, she found herself among uncouth strangers and +wild uncomfortable customs very different from her experiences in the +court of France. The very people who were disposed to love her, made +her head ache when she was tired out by her voyage, with a serenade of +discordant music—a fearful concert of bagpipes, I suppose—and brought +her and her train home to her palace on miserable little Scotch horses +that appeared to be half starved. Among the people who were not +disposed to love her, she found the powerful leaders of the Reformed +Church, who were bitter upon her amusements, however innocent, and +denounced music and dancing as works of the devil. John Knox himself +often lectured her, violently and angrily, and did much to make her +life unhappy. All these reasons confirmed her old attachment to the +Romish religion, and caused her, there is no doubt, most imprudently +and dangerously both for herself and for England too, to give a solemn +pledge to the heads of the Romish Church that if she ever succeeded to +the English crown, she would set up that religion again. In reading her +unhappy history, you must always remember this; and also that during +her whole life she was constantly put forward against the Queen, in +some form or other, by the Romish party. + +That Elizabeth, on the other hand, was not inclined to like her, is +pretty certain. Elizabeth was very vain and jealous, and had an +extraordinary dislike to people being married. She treated Lady +Catherine Grey, sister of the beheaded Lady Jane, with such shameful +severity, for no other reason than her being secretly married, that she +died and her husband was ruined; so, when a second marriage for Mary +began to be talked about, probably Elizabeth disliked her more. Not +that Elizabeth wanted suitors of her own, for they started up from +Spain, Austria, Sweden, and England. Her English lover at this time, +and one whom she much favoured too, was Lord Robert Dudley, Earl of +Leicester—himself secretly married to Amy Robsart, the daughter of an +English gentleman, whom he was strongly suspected of causing to be +murdered, down at his country seat, Cumnor Hall in Berkshire, that he +might be free to marry the Queen. Upon this story, the great writer, +Sir Walter Scott, has founded one of his best romances. But if +Elizabeth knew how to lead her handsome favourite on, for her own +vanity and pleasure, she knew how to stop him for her own pride; and +his love, and all the other proposals, came to nothing. The Queen +always declared in good set speeches, that she would never be married +at all, but would live and die a Maiden Queen. It was a very pleasant +and meritorious declaration, I suppose; but it has been puffed and +trumpeted so much, that I am rather tired of it myself. + +Divers princes proposed to marry Mary, but the English court had +reasons for being jealous of them all, and even proposed as a matter of +policy that she should marry that very Earl of Leicester who had +aspired to be the husband of Elizabeth. At last, Lord Darnley, son of +the Earl of Lennox, and himself descended from the Royal Family of +Scotland, went over with Elizabeth’s consent to try his fortune at +Holyrood. He was a tall simpleton; and could dance and play the guitar; +but I know of nothing else he could do, unless it were to get very +drunk, and eat gluttonously, and make a contemptible spectacle of +himself in many mean and vain ways. However, he gained Mary’s heart, +not disdaining in the pursuit of his object to ally himself with one of +her secretaries, David Rizzio, who had great influence with her. He +soon married the Queen. This marriage does not say much for her, but +what followed will presently say less. + +Mary’s brother, the Earl of Murray, and head of the Protestant party in +Scotland, had opposed this marriage, partly on religious grounds, and +partly perhaps from personal dislike of the very contemptible +bridegroom. When it had taken place, through Mary’s gaining over to it +the more powerful of the lords about her, she banished Murray for his +pains; and, when he and some other nobles rose in arms to support the +reformed religion, she herself, within a month of her wedding day, rode +against them in armour with loaded pistols in her saddle. Driven out of +Scotland, they presented themselves before Elizabeth—who called them +traitors in public, and assisted them in private, according to her +crafty nature. + +Mary had been married but a little while, when she began to hate her +husband, who, in his turn, began to hate that David Rizzio, with whom +he had leagued to gain her favour, and whom he now believed to be her +lover. He hated Rizzio to that extent, that he made a compact with Lord +Ruthven and three other lords to get rid of him by murder. This wicked +agreement they made in solemn secrecy upon the first of March, fifteen +hundred and sixty-six, and on the night of Saturday the ninth, the +conspirators were brought by Darnley up a private staircase, dark and +steep, into a range of rooms where they knew that Mary was sitting at +supper with her sister, Lady Argyle, and this doomed man. When they +went into the room, Darnley took the Queen round the waist, and Lord +Ruthven, who had risen from a bed of sickness to do this murder, came +in, gaunt and ghastly, leaning on two men. Rizzio ran behind the Queen +for shelter and protection. ‘Let him come out of the room,’ said +Ruthven. ‘He shall not leave the room,’ replied the Queen; ‘I read his +danger in your face, and it is my will that he remain here.’ They then +set upon him, struggled with him, overturned the table, dragged him +out, and killed him with fifty-six stabs. When the Queen heard that he +was dead, she said, ‘No more tears. I will think now of revenge!’ + +Within a day or two, she gained her husband over, and prevailed on the +tall idiot to abandon the conspirators and fly with her to Dunbar. +There, he issued a proclamation, audaciously and falsely denying that +he had any knowledge of the late bloody business; and there they were +joined by the Earl Bothwell and some other nobles. With their help, +they raised eight thousand men; returned to Edinburgh, and drove the +assassins into England. Mary soon afterwards gave birth to a son—still +thinking of revenge. + +That she should have had a greater scorn for her husband after his late +cowardice and treachery than she had had before, was natural enough. +There is little doubt that she now began to love Bothwell instead, and +to plan with him means of getting rid of Darnley. Bothwell had such +power over her that he induced her even to pardon the assassins of +Rizzio. The arrangements for the Christening of the young Prince were +entrusted to him, and he was one of the most important people at the +ceremony, where the child was named James: Elizabeth being his +godmother, though not present on the occasion. A week afterwards, +Darnley, who had left Mary and gone to his father’s house at Glasgow, +being taken ill with the small-pox, she sent her own physician to +attend him. But there is reason to apprehend that this was merely a +show and a pretence, and that she knew what was doing, when Bothwell +within another month proposed to one of the late conspirators against +Rizzio, to murder Darnley, ‘for that it was the Queen’s mind that he +should be taken away.’ It is certain that on that very day she wrote to +her ambassador in France, complaining of him, and yet went immediately +to Glasgow, feigning to be very anxious about him, and to love him very +much. If she wanted to get him in her power, she succeeded to her +heart’s content; for she induced him to go back with her to Edinburgh, +and to occupy, instead of the palace, a lone house outside the city +called the Kirk of Field. Here, he lived for about a week. One Sunday +night, she remained with him until ten o’clock, and then left him, to +go to Holyrood to be present at an entertainment given in celebration +of the marriage of one of her favourite servants. At two o’clock in the +morning the city was shaken by a great explosion, and the Kirk of Field +was blown to atoms. + +Darnley’s body was found next day lying under a tree at some distance. +How it came there, undisfigured and unscorched by gunpowder, and how +this crime came to be so clumsily and strangely committed, it is +impossible to discover. The deceitful character of Mary, and the +deceitful character of Elizabeth, have rendered almost every part of +their joint history uncertain and obscure. But, I fear that Mary was +unquestionably a party to her husband’s murder, and that this was the +revenge she had threatened. The Scotch people universally believed it. +Voices cried out in the streets of Edinburgh in the dead of the night, +for justice on the murderess. Placards were posted by unknown hands in +the public places denouncing Bothwell as the murderer, and the Queen as +his accomplice; and, when he afterwards married her (though himself +already married), previously making a show of taking her prisoner by +force, the indignation of the people knew no bounds. The women +particularly are described as having been quite frantic against the +Queen, and to have hooted and cried after her in the streets with +terrific vehemence. + +Such guilty unions seldom prosper. This husband and wife had lived +together but a month, when they were separated for ever by the +successes of a band of Scotch nobles who associated against them for +the protection of the young Prince: whom Bothwell had vainly +endeavoured to lay hold of, and whom he would certainly have murdered, +if the Earl of Mar, in whose hands the boy was, had not been firmly and +honourably faithful to his trust. Before this angry power, Bothwell +fled abroad, where he died, a prisoner and mad, nine miserable years +afterwards. Mary being found by the associated lords to deceive them at +every turn, was sent a prisoner to Lochleven Castle; which, as it stood +in the midst of a lake, could only be approached by boat. Here, one +Lord Lindsay, who was so much of a brute that the nobles would have +done better if they had chosen a mere gentleman for their messenger, +made her sign her abdication, and appoint Murray, Regent of Scotland. +Here, too, Murray saw her in a sorrowing and humbled state. + +She had better have remained in the castle of Lochleven, dull prison as +it was, with the rippling of the lake against it, and the moving +shadows of the water on the room walls; but she could not rest there, +and more than once tried to escape. The first time she had nearly +succeeded, dressed in the clothes of her own washer-woman, but, putting +up her hand to prevent one of the boatmen from lifting her veil, the +men suspected her, seeing how white it was, and rowed her back again. A +short time afterwards, her fascinating manners enlisted in her cause a +boy in the Castle, called the little Douglas, who, while the family +were at supper, stole the keys of the great gate, went softly out with +the Queen, locked the gate on the outside, and rowed her away across +the lake, sinking the keys as they went along. On the opposite shore +she was met by another Douglas, and some few lords; and, so +accompanied, rode away on horseback to Hamilton, where they raised +three thousand men. Here, she issued a proclamation declaring that the +abdication she had signed in her prison was illegal, and requiring the +Regent to yield to his lawful Queen. Being a steady soldier, and in no +way discomposed although he was without an army, Murray pretended to +treat with her, until he had collected a force about half equal to her +own, and then he gave her battle. In one quarter of an hour he cut down +all her hopes. She had another weary ride on horse-back of sixty long +Scotch miles, and took shelter at Dundrennan Abbey, whence she fled for +safety to Elizabeth’s dominions. + +Mary Queen of Scots came to England—to her own ruin, the trouble of the +kingdom, and the misery and death of many—in the year one thousand five +hundred and sixty-eight. How she left it and the world, nineteen years +afterwards, we have now to see. + +SECOND PART + +When Mary Queen of Scots arrived in England, without money and even +without any other clothes than those she wore, she wrote to Elizabeth, +representing herself as an innocent and injured piece of Royalty, and +entreating her assistance to oblige her Scottish subjects to take her +back again and obey her. But, as her character was already known in +England to be a very different one from what she made it out to be, she +was told in answer that she must first clear herself. Made uneasy by +this condition, Mary, rather than stay in England, would have gone to +Spain, or to France, or would even have gone back to Scotland. But, as +her doing either would have been likely to trouble England afresh, it +was decided that she should be detained here. She first came to +Carlisle, and, after that, was moved about from castle to castle, as +was considered necessary; but England she never left again. + +After trying very hard to get rid of the necessity of clearing herself, +Mary, advised by Lord Herries, her best friend in England, agreed to +answer the charges against her, if the Scottish noblemen who made them +would attend to maintain them before such English noblemen as Elizabeth +might appoint for that purpose. Accordingly, such an assembly, under +the name of a conference, met, first at York, and afterwards at Hampton +Court. In its presence Lord Lennox, Darnley’s father, openly charged +Mary with the murder of his son; and whatever Mary’s friends may now +say or write in her behalf, there is no doubt that, when her brother +Murray produced against her a casket containing certain guilty letters +and verses which he stated to have passed between her and Bothwell, she +withdrew from the inquiry. Consequently, it is to be supposed that she +was then considered guilty by those who had the best opportunities of +judging of the truth, and that the feeling which afterwards arose in +her behalf was a very generous but not a very reasonable one. + +However, the Duke of Norfolk, an honourable but rather weak nobleman, +partly because Mary was captivating, partly because he was ambitious, +partly because he was over-persuaded by artful plotters against +Elizabeth, conceived a strong idea that he would like to marry the +Queen of Scots—though he was a little frightened, too, by the letters +in the casket. This idea being secretly encouraged by some of the +noblemen of Elizabeth’s court, and even by the favourite Earl of +Leicester (because it was objected to by other favourites who were his +rivals), Mary expressed her approval of it, and the King of France and +the King of Spain are supposed to have done the same. It was not so +quietly planned, though, but that it came to Elizabeth’s ears, who +warned the Duke ‘to be careful what sort of pillow he was going to lay +his head upon.’ He made a humble reply at the time; but turned sulky +soon afterwards, and, being considered dangerous, was sent to the +Tower. + +Thus, from the moment of Mary’s coming to England she began to be the +centre of plots and miseries. + +A rise of the Catholics in the north was the next of these, and it was +only checked by many executions and much bloodshed. It was followed by +a great conspiracy of the Pope and some of the Catholic sovereigns of +Europe to depose Elizabeth, place Mary on the throne, and restore the +unreformed religion. It is almost impossible to doubt that Mary knew +and approved of this; and the Pope himself was so hot in the matter +that he issued a bull, in which he openly called Elizabeth the +‘pretended Queen’ of England, excommunicated her, and excommunicated +all her subjects who should continue to obey her. A copy of this +miserable paper got into London, and was found one morning publicly +posted on the Bishop of London’s gate. A great hue and cry being +raised, another copy was found in the chamber of a student of Lincoln’s +Inn, who confessed, being put upon the rack, that he had received it +from one John Felton, a rich gentleman who lived across the Thames, +near Southwark. This John Felton, being put upon the rack too, +confessed that he had posted the placard on the Bishop’s gate. For this +offence he was, within four days, taken to St. Paul’s Churchyard, and +there hanged and quartered. As to the Pope’s bull, the people by the +reformation having thrown off the Pope, did not care much, you may +suppose, for the Pope’s throwing off them. It was a mere dirty piece of +paper, and not half so powerful as a street ballad. + +On the very day when Felton was brought to his trial, the poor Duke of +Norfolk was released. It would have been well for him if he had kept +away from the Tower evermore, and from the snares that had taken him +there. But, even while he was in that dismal place he corresponded with +Mary, and as soon as he was out of it, he began to plot again. Being +discovered in correspondence with the Pope, with a view to a rising in +England which should force Elizabeth to consent to his marriage with +Mary and to repeal the laws against the Catholics, he was re-committed +to the Tower and brought to trial. He was found guilty by the unanimous +verdict of the Lords who tried him, and was sentenced to the block. + +It is very difficult to make out, at this distance of time, and between +opposite accounts, whether Elizabeth really was a humane woman, or +desired to appear so, or was fearful of shedding the blood of people of +great name who were popular in the country. Twice she commanded and +countermanded the execution of this Duke, and it did not take place +until five months after his trial. The scaffold was erected on Tower +Hill, and there he died like a brave man. He refused to have his eyes +bandaged, saying that he was not at all afraid of death; and he +admitted the justice of his sentence, and was much regretted by the +people. + +Although Mary had shrunk at the most important time from disproving her +guilt, she was very careful never to do anything that would admit it. +All such proposals as were made to her by Elizabeth for her release, +required that admission in some form or other, and therefore came to +nothing. Moreover, both women being artful and treacherous, and neither +ever trusting the other, it was not likely that they could ever make an +agreement. So, the Parliament, aggravated by what the Pope had done, +made new and strong laws against the spreading of the Catholic religion +in England, and declared it treason in any one to say that the Queen +and her successors were not the lawful sovereigns of England. It would +have done more than this, but for Elizabeth’s moderation. + +Since the Reformation, there had come to be three great sects of +religious people—or people who called themselves so—in England; that is +to say, those who belonged to the Reformed Church, those who belonged +to the Unreformed Church, and those who were called the Puritans, +because they said that they wanted to have everything very pure and +plain in all the Church service. These last were for the most part an +uncomfortable people, who thought it highly meritorious to dress in a +hideous manner, talk through their noses, and oppose all harmless +enjoyments. But they were powerful too, and very much in earnest, and +they were one and all the determined enemies of the Queen of Scots. The +Protestant feeling in England was further strengthened by the +tremendous cruelties to which Protestants were exposed in France and in +the Netherlands. Scores of thousands of them were put to death in those +countries with every cruelty that can be imagined, and at last, in the +autumn of the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-two, one of +the greatest barbarities ever committed in the world took place at +Paris. + +It is called in history, The Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, because it +took place on Saint Bartholomew’s Eve. The day fell on Saturday the +twenty-third of August. On that day all the great leaders of the +Protestants (who were there called Huguenots) were assembled together, +for the purpose, as was represented to them, of doing honour to the +marriage of their chief, the young King of Navarre, with the sister of +Charles the Ninth: a miserable young King who then occupied the French +throne. This dull creature was made to believe by his mother and other +fierce Catholics about him that the Huguenots meant to take his life; +and he was persuaded to give secret orders that, on the tolling of a +great bell, they should be fallen upon by an overpowering force of +armed men, and slaughtered wherever they could be found. When the +appointed hour was close at hand, the stupid wretch, trembling from +head to foot, was taken into a balcony by his mother to see the +atrocious work begun. The moment the bell tolled, the murderers broke +forth. During all that night and the two next days, they broke into the +houses, fired the houses, shot and stabbed the Protestants, men, women, +and children, and flung their bodies into the streets. They were shot +at in the streets as they passed along, and their blood ran down the +gutters. Upwards of ten thousand Protestants were killed in Paris +alone; in all France four or five times that number. To return thanks +to Heaven for these diabolical murders, the Pope and his train actually +went in public procession at Rome, and as if this were not shame enough +for them, they had a medal struck to commemorate the event. But, +however comfortable the wholesale murders were to these high +authorities, they had not that soothing effect upon the doll-King. I am +happy to state that he never knew a moment’s peace afterwards; that he +was continually crying out that he saw the Huguenots covered with blood +and wounds falling dead before him; and that he died within a year, +shrieking and yelling and raving to that degree, that if all the Popes +who had ever lived had been rolled into one, they would not have +afforded His guilty Majesty the slightest consolation. + +When the terrible news of the massacre arrived in England, it made a +powerful impression indeed upon the people. If they began to run a +little wild against the Catholics at about this time, this fearful +reason for it, coming so soon after the days of bloody Queen Mary, must +be remembered in their excuse. The Court was not quite so honest as the +people—but perhaps it sometimes is not. It received the French +ambassador, with all the lords and ladies dressed in deep mourning, and +keeping a profound silence. Nevertheless, a proposal of marriage which +he had made to Elizabeth only two days before the eve of Saint +Bartholomew, on behalf of the Duke of Alençon, the French King’s +brother, a boy of seventeen, still went on; while on the other hand, in +her usual crafty way, the Queen secretly supplied the Huguenots with +money and weapons. + +I must say that for a Queen who made all those fine speeches, of which +I have confessed myself to be rather tired, about living and dying a +Maiden Queen, Elizabeth was ‘going’ to be married pretty often. Besides +always having some English favourite or other whom she by turns +encouraged and swore at and knocked about—for the maiden Queen was very +free with her fists—she held this French Duke off and on through +several years. When he at last came over to England, the marriage +articles were actually drawn up, and it was settled that the wedding +should take place in six weeks. The Queen was then so bent upon it, +that she prosecuted a poor Puritan named Stubbs, and a poor bookseller +named Page, for writing and publishing a pamphlet against it. Their +right hands were chopped off for this crime; and poor Stubbs—more loyal +than I should have been myself under the circumstances—immediately +pulled off his hat with his left hand, and cried, ‘God save the Queen!’ +Stubbs was cruelly treated; for the marriage never took place after +all, though the Queen pledged herself to the Duke with a ring from her +own finger. He went away, no better than he came, when the courtship +had lasted some ten years altogether; and he died a couple of years +afterwards, mourned by Elizabeth, who appears to have been really fond +of him. It is not much to her credit, for he was a bad enough member of +a bad family. + +To return to the Catholics. There arose two orders of priests, who were +very busy in England, and who were much dreaded. These were the Jesuits +(who were everywhere in all sorts of disguises), and the Seminary +Priests. The people had a great horror of the first, because they were +known to have taught that murder was lawful if it were done with an +object of which they approved; and they had a great horror of the +second, because they came to teach the old religion, and to be the +successors of ‘Queen Mary’s priests,’ as those yet lingering in England +were called, when they should die out. The severest laws were made +against them, and were most unmercifully executed. Those who sheltered +them in their houses often suffered heavily for what was an act of +humanity; and the rack, that cruel torture which tore men’s limbs +asunder, was constantly kept going. What these unhappy men confessed, +or what was ever confessed by any one under that agony, must always be +received with great doubt, as it is certain that people have frequently +owned to the most absurd and impossible crimes to escape such dreadful +suffering. But I cannot doubt it to have been proved by papers, that +there were many plots, both among the Jesuits, and with France, and +with Scotland, and with Spain, for the destruction of Queen Elizabeth, +for the placing of Mary on the throne, and for the revival of the old +religion. + +If the English people were too ready to believe in plots, there were, +as I have said, good reasons for it. When the massacre of Saint +Bartholomew was yet fresh in their recollection, a great Protestant +Dutch hero, the Prince of Orange, was shot by an assassin, who +confessed that he had been kept and trained for the purpose in a +college of Jesuits. The Dutch, in this surprise and distress, offered +to make Elizabeth their sovereign, but she declined the honour, and +sent them a small army instead, under the command of the Earl of +Leicester, who, although a capital Court favourite, was not much of a +general. He did so little in Holland, that his campaign there would +probably have been forgotten, but for its occasioning the death of one +of the best writers, the best knights, and the best gentlemen, of that +or any age. This was Sir Philip Sidney, who was wounded by a musket +ball in the thigh as he mounted a fresh horse, after having had his own +killed under him. He had to ride back wounded, a long distance, and was +very faint with fatigue and loss of blood, when some water, for which +he had eagerly asked, was handed to him. But he was so good and gentle +even then, that seeing a poor badly wounded common soldier lying on the +ground, looking at the water with longing eyes, he said, ‘Thy necessity +is greater than mine,’ and gave it up to him. This touching action of a +noble heart is perhaps as well known as any incident in history—is as +famous far and wide as the blood-stained Tower of London, with its axe, +and block, and murders out of number. So delightful is an act of true +humanity, and so glad are mankind to remember it. + +At home, intelligence of plots began to thicken every day. I suppose +the people never did live under such continual terrors as those by +which they were possessed now, of Catholic risings, and burnings, and +poisonings, and I don’t know what. Still, we must always remember that +they lived near and close to awful realities of that kind, and that +with their experience it was not difficult to believe in any enormity. +The government had the same fear, and did not take the best means of +discovering the truth—for, besides torturing the suspected, it employed +paid spies, who will always lie for their own profit. It even made some +of the conspiracies it brought to light, by sending false letters to +disaffected people, inviting them to join in pretended plots, which +they too readily did. + +But, one great real plot was at length discovered, and it ended the +career of Mary, Queen of Scots. A seminary priest named Ballard, and a +Spanish soldier named Savage, set on and encouraged by certain French +priests, imparted a design to one Antony Babington—a gentleman of +fortune in Derbyshire, who had been for some time a secret agent of +Mary’s—for murdering the Queen. Babington then confided the scheme to +some other Catholic gentlemen who were his friends, and they joined in +it heartily. They were vain, weak-headed young men, ridiculously +confident, and preposterously proud of their plan; for they got a +gimcrack painting made, of the six choice spirits who were to murder +Elizabeth, with Babington in an attitude for the centre figure. Two of +their number, however, one of whom was a priest, kept Elizabeth’s +wisest minister, Sir Francis Walsingham, acquainted with the whole +project from the first. The conspirators were completely deceived to +the final point, when Babington gave Savage, because he was shabby, a +ring from his finger, and some money from his purse, wherewith to buy +himself new clothes in which to kill the Queen. Walsingham, having then +full evidence against the whole band, and two letters of Mary’s +besides, resolved to seize them. Suspecting something wrong, they stole +out of the city, one by one, and hid themselves in St. John’s Wood, and +other places which really were hiding places then; but they were all +taken, and all executed. When they were seized, a gentleman was sent +from Court to inform Mary of the fact, and of her being involved in the +discovery. Her friends have complained that she was kept in very hard +and severe custody. It does not appear very likely, for she was going +out a hunting that very morning. + +Queen Elizabeth had been warned long ago, by one in France who had good +information of what was secretly doing, that in holding Mary alive, she +held ‘the wolf who would devour her.’ The Bishop of London had, more +lately, given the Queen’s favourite minister the advice in writing, +‘forthwith to cut off the Scottish Queen’s head.’ The question now was, +what to do with her? The Earl of Leicester wrote a little note home +from Holland, recommending that she should be quietly poisoned; that +noble favourite having accustomed his mind, it is possible, to remedies +of that nature. His black advice, however, was disregarded, and she was +brought to trial at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire, before a +tribunal of forty, composed of both religions. There, and in the Star +Chamber at Westminster, the trial lasted a fortnight. She defended +herself with great ability, but could only deny the confessions that +had been made by Babington and others; could only call her own letters, +produced against her by her own secretaries, forgeries; and, in short, +could only deny everything. She was found guilty, and declared to have +incurred the penalty of death. The Parliament met, approved the +sentence, and prayed the Queen to have it executed. The Queen replied +that she requested them to consider whether no means could be found of +saving Mary’s life without endangering her own. The Parliament +rejoined, No; and the citizens illuminated their houses and lighted +bonfires, in token of their joy that all these plots and troubles were +to be ended by the death of the Queen of Scots. + +[Illustration: Mary Queen of Scots Reading the death warrant] + +She, feeling sure that her time was now come, wrote a letter to the +Queen of England, making three entreaties; first, that she might be +buried in France; secondly, that she might not be executed in secret, +but before her servants and some others; thirdly, that after her death, +her servants should not be molested, but should be suffered to go home +with the legacies she left them. It was an affecting letter, and +Elizabeth shed tears over it, but sent no answer. Then came a special +ambassador from France, and another from Scotland, to intercede for +Mary’s life; and then the nation began to clamour, more and more, for +her death. + +What the real feelings or intentions of Elizabeth were, can never be +known now; but I strongly suspect her of only wishing one thing more +than Mary’s death, and that was to keep free of the blame of it. On the +first of February, one thousand five hundred and eighty-seven, Lord +Burleigh having drawn out the warrant for the execution, the Queen sent +to the secretary Davison to bring it to her, that she might sign it: +which she did. Next day, when Davison told her it was sealed, she +angrily asked him why such haste was necessary? Next day but one, she +joked about it, and swore a little. Again, next day but one, she seemed +to complain that it was not yet done, but still she would not be plain +with those about her. So, on the seventh, the Earls of Kent and +Shrewsbury, with the Sheriff of Northamptonshire, came with the warrant +to Fotheringay, to tell the Queen of Scots to prepare for death. + +When those messengers of ill omen were gone, Mary made a frugal supper, +drank to her servants, read over her will, went to bed, slept for some +hours, and then arose and passed the remainder of the night saying +prayers. In the morning she dressed herself in her best clothes; and, +at eight o’clock when the sheriff came for her to her chapel, took +leave of her servants who were there assembled praying with her, and +went down-stairs, carrying a Bible in one hand and a crucifix in the +other. Two of her women and four of her men were allowed to be present +in the hall; where a low scaffold, only two feet from the ground, was +erected and covered with black; and where the executioner from the +Tower, and his assistant, stood, dressed in black velvet. The hall was +full of people. While the sentence was being read she sat upon a stool; +and, when it was finished, she again denied her guilt, as she had done +before. The Earl of Kent and the Dean of Peterborough, in their +Protestant zeal, made some very unnecessary speeches to her; to which +she replied that she died in the Catholic religion, and they need not +trouble themselves about that matter. When her head and neck were +uncovered by the executioners, she said that she had not been used to +be undressed by such hands, or before so much company. Finally, one of +her women fastened a cloth over her face, and she laid her neck upon +the block, and repeated more than once in Latin, ‘Into thy hands, O +Lord, I commend my spirit!’ Some say her head was struck off in two +blows, some say in three. However that be, when it was held up, +streaming with blood, the real hair beneath the false hair she had long +worn was seen to be as grey as that of a woman of seventy, though she +was at that time only in her forty-sixth year. All her beauty was gone. + +But she was beautiful enough to her little dog, who cowered under her +dress, frightened, when she went upon the scaffold, and who lay down +beside her headless body when all her earthly sorrows were over. + +THIRD PART + +On its being formally made known to Elizabeth that the sentence had +been executed on the Queen of Scots, she showed the utmost grief and +rage, drove her favourites from her with violent indignation, and sent +Davison to the Tower; from which place he was only released in the end +by paying an immense fine which completely ruined him. Elizabeth not +only over-acted her part in making these pretences, but most basely +reduced to poverty one of her faithful servants for no other fault than +obeying her commands. + +James, King of Scotland, Mary’s son, made a show likewise of being very +angry on the occasion; but he was a pensioner of England to the amount +of five thousand pounds a year, and he had known very little of his +mother, and he possibly regarded her as the murderer of his father, and +he soon took it quietly. + +Philip, King of Spain, however, threatened to do greater things than +ever had been done yet, to set up the Catholic religion and punish +Protestant England. Elizabeth, hearing that he and the Prince of Parma +were making great preparations for this purpose, in order to be +beforehand with them sent out Admiral Drake (a famous navigator, who +had sailed about the world, and had already brought great plunder from +Spain) to the port of Cadiz, where he burnt a hundred vessels full of +stores. This great loss obliged the Spaniards to put off the invasion +for a year; but it was none the less formidable for that, amounting to +one hundred and thirty ships, nineteen thousand soldiers, eight +thousand sailors, two thousand slaves, and between two and three +thousand great guns. England was not idle in making ready to resist +this great force. All the men between sixteen years old and sixty, were +trained and drilled; the national fleet of ships (in number only +thirty-four at first) was enlarged by public contributions and by +private ships, fitted out by noblemen; the city of London, of its own +accord, furnished double the number of ships and men that it was +required to provide; and, if ever the national spirit was up in +England, it was up all through the country to resist the Spaniards. +Some of the Queen’s advisers were for seizing the principal English +Catholics, and putting them to death; but the Queen—who, to her honour, +used to say, that she would never believe any ill of her subjects, +which a parent would not believe of her own children—rejected the +advice, and only confined a few of those who were the most suspected, +in the fens in Lincolnshire. The great body of Catholics deserved this +confidence; for they behaved most loyally, nobly, and bravely. + +So, with all England firing up like one strong, angry man, and with +both sides of the Thames fortified, and with the soldiers under arms, +and with the sailors in their ships, the country waited for the coming +of the proud Spanish fleet, which was called The Invincible Armada. The +Queen herself, riding in armour on a white horse, and the Earl of Essex +and the Earl of Leicester holding her bridal rein, made a brave speech +to the troops at Tilbury Fort opposite Gravesend, which was received +with such enthusiasm as is seldom known. Then came the Spanish Armada +into the English Channel, sailing along in the form of a half moon, of +such great size that it was seven miles broad. But the English were +quickly upon it, and woe then to all the Spanish ships that dropped a +little out of the half moon, for the English took them instantly! And +it soon appeared that the great Armada was anything but invincible, for +on a summer night, bold Drake sent eight blazing fire-ships right into +the midst of it. In terrible consternation the Spaniards tried to get +out to sea, and so became dispersed; the English pursued them at a +great advantage; a storm came on, and drove the Spaniards among rocks +and shoals; and the swift end of the Invincible fleet was, that it lost +thirty great ships and ten thousand men, and, defeated and disgraced, +sailed home again. Being afraid to go by the English Channel, it sailed +all round Scotland and Ireland; some of the ships getting cast away on +the latter coast in bad weather, the Irish, who were a kind of savages, +plundered those vessels and killed their crews. So ended this great +attempt to invade and conquer England. And I think it will be a long +time before any other invincible fleet coming to England with the same +object, will fare much better than the Spanish Armada. + +Though the Spanish king had had this bitter taste of English bravery, +he was so little the wiser for it, as still to entertain his old +designs, and even to conceive the absurd idea of placing his daughter +on the English throne. But the Earl of Essex, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir +Thomas Howard, and some other distinguished leaders, put to sea from +Plymouth, entered the port of Cadiz once more, obtained a complete +victory over the shipping assembled there, and got possession of the +town. In obedience to the Queen’s express instructions, they behaved +with great humanity; and the principal loss of the Spaniards was a vast +sum of money which they had to pay for ransom. This was one of many +gallant achievements on the sea, effected in this reign. Sir Walter +Raleigh himself, after marrying a maid of honour and giving offence to +the Maiden Queen thereby, had already sailed to South America in search +of gold. + +The Earl of Leicester was now dead, and so was Sir Thomas Walsingham, +whom Lord Burleigh was soon to follow. The principal favourite was the +Earl of Essex, a spirited and handsome man, a favourite with the people +too as well as with the Queen, and possessed of many admirable +qualities. It was much debated at Court whether there should be peace +with Spain or no, and he was very urgent for war. He also tried hard to +have his own way in the appointment of a deputy to govern in Ireland. +One day, while this question was in dispute, he hastily took offence, +and turned his back upon the Queen; as a gentle reminder of which +impropriety, the Queen gave him a tremendous box on the ear, and told +him to go to the devil. He went home instead, and did not reappear at +Court for half a year or so, when he and the Queen were reconciled, +though never (as some suppose) thoroughly. + +From this time the fate of the Earl of Essex and that of the Queen +seemed to be blended together. The Irish were still perpetually +quarrelling and fighting among themselves, and he went over to Ireland +as Lord Lieutenant, to the great joy of his enemies (Sir Walter Raleigh +among the rest), who were glad to have so dangerous a rival far off. +Not being by any means successful there, and knowing that his enemies +would take advantage of that circumstance to injure him with the Queen, +he came home again, though against her orders. The Queen being taken by +surprise when he appeared before her, gave him her hand to kiss, and he +was overjoyed—though it was not a very lovely hand by this time—but in +the course of the same day she ordered him to confine himself to his +room, and two or three days afterwards had him taken into custody. With +the same sort of caprice—and as capricious an old woman she now was, as +ever wore a crown or a head either—she sent him broth from her own +table on his falling ill from anxiety, and cried about him. + +He was a man who could find comfort and occupation in his books, and he +did so for a time; not the least happy time, I dare say, of his life. +But it happened unfortunately for him, that he held a monopoly in sweet +wines: which means that nobody could sell them without purchasing his +permission. This right, which was only for a term, expiring, he applied +to have it renewed. The Queen refused, with the rather strong +observation—but she _did_ make strong observations—that an unruly beast +must be stinted in his food. Upon this, the angry Earl, who had been +already deprived of many offices, thought himself in danger of complete +ruin, and turned against the Queen, whom he called a vain old woman who +had grown as crooked in her mind as she had in her figure. These +uncomplimentary expressions the ladies of the Court immediately snapped +up and carried to the Queen, whom they did not put in a better tempter, +you may believe. The same Court ladies, when they had beautiful dark +hair of their own, used to wear false red hair, to be like the Queen. +So they were not very high-spirited ladies, however high in rank. + +The worst object of the Earl of Essex, and some friends of his who used +to meet at Lord Southampton’s house, was to obtain possession of the +Queen, and oblige her by force to dismiss her ministers and change her +favourites. On Saturday the seventh of February, one thousand six +hundred and one, the council suspecting this, summoned the Earl to come +before them. He, pretending to be ill, declined; it was then settled +among his friends, that as the next day would be Sunday, when many of +the citizens usually assembled at the Cross by St. Paul’s Cathedral, he +should make one bold effort to induce them to rise and follow him to +the Palace. + +So, on the Sunday morning, he and a small body of adherents started out +of his house—Essex House by the Strand, with steps to the river—having +first shut up in it, as prisoners, some members of the council who came +to examine him—and hurried into the City with the Earl at their head +crying out ‘For the Queen! For the Queen! A plot is laid for my life!’ +No one heeded them, however, and when they came to St. Paul’s there +were no citizens there. In the meantime the prisoners at Essex House +had been released by one of the Earl’s own friends; he had been +promptly proclaimed a traitor in the City itself; and the streets were +barricaded with carts and guarded by soldiers. The Earl got back to his +house by water, with difficulty, and after an attempt to defend his +house against the troops and cannon by which it was soon surrounded, +gave himself up that night. He was brought to trial on the nineteenth, +and found guilty; on the twenty-fifth, he was executed on Tower Hill, +where he died, at thirty-four years old, both courageously and +penitently. His step-father suffered with him. His enemy, Sir Walter +Raleigh, stood near the scaffold all the time—but not so near it as we +shall see him stand, before we finish his history. + +In this case, as in the cases of the Duke of Norfolk and Mary Queen of +Scots, the Queen had commanded, and countermanded, and again commanded, +the execution. It is probable that the death of her young and gallant +favourite in the prime of his good qualities, was never off her mind +afterwards, but she held out, the same vain, obstinate and capricious +woman, for another year. Then she danced before her Court on a state +occasion—and cut, I should think, a mighty ridiculous figure, doing so +in an immense ruff, stomacher and wig, at seventy years old. For +another year still, she held out, but, without any more dancing, and as +a moody, sorrowful, broken creature. At last, on the tenth of March, +one thousand six hundred and three, having been ill of a very bad cold, +and made worse by the death of the Countess of Nottingham who was her +intimate friend, she fell into a stupor and was supposed to be dead. +She recovered her consciousness, however, and then nothing would induce +her to go to bed; for she said that she knew that if she did, she +should never get up again. There she lay for ten days, on cushions on +the floor, without any food, until the Lord Admiral got her into bed at +last, partly by persuasions and partly by main force. When they asked +her who should succeed her, she replied that her seat had been the seat +of Kings, and that she would have for her successor, ‘No rascal’s son, +but a King’s.’ Upon this, the lords present stared at one another, and +took the liberty of asking whom she meant; to which she replied, ‘Whom +should I mean, but our cousin of Scotland!’ This was on the +twenty-third of March. They asked her once again that day, after she +was speechless, whether she was still in the same mind? She struggled +up in bed, and joined her hands over her head in the form of a crown, +as the only reply she could make. At three o’clock next morning, she +very quietly died, in the forty-fifth year of her reign. + +That reign had been a glorious one, and is made for ever memorable by +the distinguished men who flourished in it. Apart from the great +voyagers, statesmen, and scholars, whom it produced, the names of +Bacon, Spenser, and Shakespeare, will always be remembered with pride +and veneration by the civilised world, and will always impart (though +with no great reason, perhaps) some portion of their lustre to the name +of Elizabeth herself. It was a great reign for discovery, for commerce, +and for English enterprise and spirit in general. It was a great reign +for the Protestant religion and for the Reformation which made England +free. The Queen was very popular, and in her progresses, or journeys +about her dominions, was everywhere received with the liveliest joy. I +think the truth is, that she was not half so good as she has been made +out, and not half so bad as she has been made out. She had her fine +qualities, but she was coarse, capricious, and treacherous, and had all +the faults of an excessively vain young woman long after she was an old +one. On the whole, she had a great deal too much of her father in her, +to please me. + +Many improvements and luxuries were introduced in the course of these +five-and-forty years in the general manner of living; but +cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and bear-baiting, were still the national +amusements; and a coach was so rarely seen, and was such an ugly and +cumbersome affair when it was seen, that even the Queen herself, on +many high occasions, rode on horseback on a pillion behind the Lord +Chancellor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII +ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE FIRST + + +‘Our cousin of Scotland’ was ugly, awkward, and shuffling both in mind +and person. His tongue was much too large for his mouth, his legs were +much too weak for his body, and his dull goggle-eyes stared and rolled +like an idiot’s. He was cunning, covetous, wasteful, idle, drunken, +greedy, dirty, cowardly, a great swearer, and the most conceited man on +earth. His figure—what is commonly called rickety from his +birth—presented a most ridiculous appearance, dressed in thick padded +clothes, as a safeguard against being stabbed (of which he lived in +continual fear), of a grass-green colour from head to foot, with a +hunting-horn dangling at his side instead of a sword, and his hat and +feather sticking over one eye, or hanging on the back of his head, as +he happened to toss it on. He used to loll on the necks of his +favourite courtiers, and slobber their faces, and kiss and pinch their +cheeks; and the greatest favourite he ever had, used to sign himself in +his letters to his royal master, His Majesty’s ‘dog and slave,’ and +used to address his majesty as ‘his Sowship.’ His majesty was the worst +rider ever seen, and thought himself the best. He was one of the most +impertinent talkers (in the broadest Scotch) ever heard, and boasted of +being unanswerable in all manner of argument. He wrote some of the most +wearisome treatises ever read—among others, a book upon witchcraft, in +which he was a devout believer—and thought himself a prodigy of +authorship. He thought, and wrote, and said, that a king had a right to +make and unmake what laws he pleased, and ought to be accountable to +nobody on earth. This is the plain, true character of the personage +whom the greatest men about the court praised and flattered to that +degree, that I doubt if there be anything much more shameful in the +annals of human nature. + +He came to the English throne with great ease. The miseries of a +disputed succession had been felt so long, and so dreadfully, that he +was proclaimed within a few hours of Elizabeth’s death, and was +accepted by the nation, even without being asked to give any pledge +that he would govern well, or that he would redress crying grievances. +He took a month to come from Edinburgh to London; and, by way of +exercising his new power, hanged a pickpocket on the journey without +any trial, and knighted everybody he could lay hold of. He made two +hundred knights before he got to his palace in London, and seven +hundred before he had been in it three months. He also shovelled +sixty-two new peers into the House of Lords—and there was a pretty +large sprinkling of Scotchmen among them, you may believe. + +His Sowship’s prime Minister, Cecil (for I cannot do better than call +his majesty what his favourite called him), was the enemy of Sir Walter +Raleigh, and also of Sir Walter’s political friend, Lord Cobham; and +his Sowship’s first trouble was a plot originated by these two, and +entered into by some others, with the old object of seizing the King +and keeping him in imprisonment until he should change his ministers. +There were Catholic priests in the plot, and there were Puritan +noblemen too; for, although the Catholics and Puritans were strongly +opposed to each other, they united at this time against his Sowship, +because they knew that he had a design against both, after pretending +to be friendly to each; this design being to have only one high and +convenient form of the Protestant religion, which everybody should be +bound to belong to, whether they liked it or not. This plot was mixed +up with another, which may or may not have had some reference to +placing on the throne, at some time, the Lady Arabella Stuart; whose +misfortune it was, to be the daughter of the younger brother of his +Sowship’s father, but who was quite innocent of any part in the scheme. +Sir Walter Raleigh was accused on the confession of Lord Cobham—a +miserable creature, who said one thing at one time, and another thing +at another time, and could be relied upon in nothing. The trial of Sir +Walter Raleigh lasted from eight in the morning until nearly midnight; +he defended himself with such eloquence, genius, and spirit against all +accusations, and against the insults of Coke, the Attorney-General—who, +according to the custom of the time, foully abused him—that those who +went there detesting the prisoner, came away admiring him, and +declaring that anything so wonderful and so captivating was never +heard. He was found guilty, nevertheless, and sentenced to death. +Execution was deferred, and he was taken to the Tower. The two Catholic +priests, less fortunate, were executed with the usual atrocity; and +Lord Cobham and two others were pardoned on the scaffold. His Sowship +thought it wonderfully knowing in him to surprise the people by +pardoning these three at the very block; but, blundering, and bungling, +as usual, he had very nearly overreached himself. For, the messenger on +horseback who brought the pardon, came so late, that he was pushed to +the outside of the crowd, and was obliged to shout and roar out what he +came for. The miserable Cobham did not gain much by being spared that +day. He lived, both as a prisoner and a beggar, utterly despised, and +miserably poor, for thirteen years, and then died in an old outhouse +belonging to one of his former servants. + +This plot got rid of, and Sir Walter Raleigh safely shut up in the +Tower, his Sowship held a great dispute with the Puritans on their +presenting a petition to him, and had it all his own way—not so very +wonderful, as he would talk continually, and would not hear anybody +else—and filled the Bishops with admiration. It was comfortably settled +that there was to be only one form of religion, and that all men were +to think exactly alike. But, although this was arranged two centuries +and a half ago, and although the arrangement was supported by much +fining and imprisonment, I do not find that it is quite successful, +even yet. + +His Sowship, having that uncommonly high opinion of himself as a king, +had a very low opinion of Parliament as a power that audaciously wanted +to control him. When he called his first Parliament after he had been +king a year, he accordingly thought he would take pretty high ground +with them, and told them that he commanded them ‘as an absolute king.’ +The Parliament thought those strong words, and saw the necessity of +upholding their authority. His Sowship had three children: Prince +Henry, Prince Charles, and the Princess Elizabeth. It would have been +well for one of these, and we shall too soon see which, if he had +learnt a little wisdom concerning Parliaments from his father’s +obstinacy. + +Now, the people still labouring under their old dread of the Catholic +religion, this Parliament revived and strengthened the severe laws +against it. And this so angered Robert Catesby, a restless Catholic +gentleman of an old family, that he formed one of the most desperate +and terrible designs ever conceived in the mind of man; no less a +scheme than the Gunpowder Plot. + +His object was, when the King, lords, and commons, should be assembled +at the next opening of Parliament, to blow them up, one and all, with a +great mine of gunpowder. The first person to whom he confided this +horrible idea was Thomas Winter, a Worcestershire gentleman who had +served in the army abroad, and had been secretly employed in Catholic +projects. While Winter was yet undecided, and when he had gone over to +the Netherlands, to learn from the Spanish Ambassador there whether +there was any hope of Catholics being relieved through the intercession +of the King of Spain with his Sowship, he found at Ostend a tall, dark, +daring man, whom he had known when they were both soldiers abroad, and +whose name was Guido—or Guy—Fawkes. Resolved to join the plot, he +proposed it to this man, knowing him to be the man for any desperate +deed, and they two came back to England together. Here, they admitted +two other conspirators; Thomas Percy, related to the Earl of +Northumberland, and John Wright, his brother-in-law. All these met +together in a solitary house in the open fields which were then near +Clement’s Inn, now a closely blocked-up part of London; and when they +had all taken a great oath of secrecy, Catesby told the rest what his +plan was. They then went up-stairs into a garret, and received the +Sacrament from Father Gerard, a Jesuit, who is said not to have known +actually of the Gunpowder Plot, but who, I think, must have had his +suspicions that there was something desperate afoot. + +Percy was a Gentleman Pensioner, and as he had occasional duties to +perform about the Court, then kept at Whitehall, there would be nothing +suspicious in his living at Westminster. So, having looked well about +him, and having found a house to let, the back of which joined the +Parliament House, he hired it of a person named Ferris, for the purpose +of undermining the wall. Having got possession of this house, the +conspirators hired another on the Lambeth side of the Thames, which +they used as a storehouse for wood, gunpowder, and other combustible +matters. These were to be removed at night (and afterwards were +removed), bit by bit, to the house at Westminster; and, that there +might be some trusty person to keep watch over the Lambeth stores, they +admitted another conspirator, by name Robert Kay, a very poor Catholic +gentleman. + +All these arrangements had been made some months, and it was a dark, +wintry, December night, when the conspirators, who had been in the +meantime dispersed to avoid observation, met in the house at +Westminster, and began to dig. They had laid in a good stock of +eatables, to avoid going in and out, and they dug and dug with great +ardour. But, the wall being tremendously thick, and the work very +severe, they took into their plot Christopher Wright, a younger brother +of John Wright, that they might have a new pair of hands to help. And +Christopher Wright fell to like a fresh man, and they dug and dug by +night and by day, and Fawkes stood sentinel all the time. And if any +man’s heart seemed to fail him at all, Fawkes said, ‘Gentlemen, we have +abundance of powder and shot here, and there is no fear of our being +taken alive, even if discovered.’ The same Fawkes, who, in the capacity +of sentinel, was always prowling about, soon picked up the intelligence +that the King had prorogued the Parliament again, from the seventh of +February, the day first fixed upon, until the third of October. When +the conspirators knew this, they agreed to separate until after the +Christmas holidays, and to take no notice of each other in the +meanwhile, and never to write letters to one another on any account. +So, the house in Westminster was shut up again, and I suppose the +neighbours thought that those strange-looking men who lived there so +gloomily, and went out so seldom, were gone away to have a merry +Christmas somewhere. + +It was the beginning of February, sixteen hundred and five, when +Catesby met his fellow-conspirators again at this Westminster house. He +had now admitted three more; John Grant, a Warwickshire gentleman of a +melancholy temper, who lived in a doleful house near +Stratford-upon-Avon, with a frowning wall all round it, and a deep +moat; Robert Winter, eldest brother of Thomas; and Catesby’s own +servant, Thomas Bates, who, Catesby thought, had had some suspicion of +what his master was about. These three had all suffered more or less +for their religion in Elizabeth’s time. And now, they all began to dig +again, and they dug and dug by night and by day. + +They found it dismal work alone there, underground, with such a fearful +secret on their minds, and so many murders before them. They were +filled with wild fancies. Sometimes, they thought they heard a great +bell tolling, deep down in the earth under the Parliament House; +sometimes, they thought they heard low voices muttering about the +Gunpowder Plot; once in the morning, they really did hear a great +rumbling noise over their heads, as they dug and sweated in their mine. +Every man stopped and looked aghast at his neighbour, wondering what +had happened, when that bold prowler, Fawkes, who had been out to look, +came in and told them that it was only a dealer in coals who had +occupied a cellar under the Parliament House, removing his stock in +trade to some other place. Upon this, the conspirators, who with all +their digging and digging had not yet dug through the tremendously +thick wall, changed their plan; hired that cellar, which was directly +under the House of Lords; put six-and-thirty barrels of gunpowder in +it, and covered them over with fagots and coals. Then they all +dispersed again till September, when the following new conspirators +were admitted; Sir Edward Baynham, of Gloucestershire; Sir Everard +Digby, of Rutlandshire; Ambrose Rookwood, of Suffolk; Francis Tresham, +of Northamptonshire. Most of these were rich, and were to assist the +plot, some with money and some with horses on which the conspirators +were to ride through the country and rouse the Catholics after the +Parliament should be blown into air. + +Parliament being again prorogued from the third of October to the fifth +of November, and the conspirators being uneasy lest their design should +have been found out, Thomas Winter said he would go up into the House +of Lords on the day of the prorogation, and see how matters looked. +Nothing could be better. The unconscious Commissioners were walking +about and talking to one another, just over the six-and-thirty barrels +of gunpowder. He came back and told the rest so, and they went on with +their preparations. They hired a ship, and kept it ready in the Thames, +in which Fawkes was to sail for Flanders after firing with a slow match +the train that was to explode the powder. A number of Catholic +gentlemen not in the secret, were invited, on pretence of a hunting +party, to meet Sir Everard Digby at Dunchurch on the fatal day, that +they might be ready to act together. And now all was ready. + +But, now, the great wickedness and danger which had been all along at +the bottom of this wicked plot, began to show itself. As the fifth of +November drew near, most of the conspirators, remembering that they had +friends and relations who would be in the House of Lords that day, felt +some natural relenting, and a wish to warn them to keep away. They were +not much comforted by Catesby’s declaring that in such a cause he would +blow up his own son. Lord Mounteagle, Tresham’s brother-in-law, was +certain to be in the house; and when Tresham found that he could not +prevail upon the rest to devise any means of sparing their friends, he +wrote a mysterious letter to this lord and left it at his lodging in +the dusk, urging him to keep away from the opening of Parliament, +‘since God and man had concurred to punish the wickedness of the +times.’ It contained the words ‘that the Parliament should receive a +terrible blow, and yet should not see who hurt them.’ And it added, +‘the danger is past, as soon as you have burnt the letter.’ + +The ministers and courtiers made out that his Sowship, by a direct +miracle from Heaven, found out what this letter meant. The truth is, +that they were not long (as few men would be) in finding out for +themselves; and it was decided to let the conspirators alone, until the +very day before the opening of Parliament. That the conspirators had +their fears, is certain; for, Tresham himself said before them all, +that they were every one dead men; and, although even he did not take +flight, there is reason to suppose that he had warned other persons +besides Lord Mounteagle. However, they were all firm; and Fawkes, who +was a man of iron, went down every day and night to keep watch in the +cellar as usual. He was there about two in the afternoon of the fourth, +when the Lord Chamberlain and Lord Mounteagle threw open the door and +looked in. ‘Who are you, friend?’ said they. ‘Why,’ said Fawkes, ‘I am +Mr. Percy’s servant, and am looking after his store of fuel here.’ +‘Your master has laid in a pretty good store,’ they returned, and shut +the door, and went away. Fawkes, upon this, posted off to the other +conspirators to tell them all was quiet, and went back and shut himself +up in the dark, black cellar again, where he heard the bell go twelve +o’clock and usher in the fifth of November. About two hours afterwards, +he slowly opened the door, and came out to look about him, in his old +prowling way. He was instantly seized and bound, by a party of soldiers +under Sir Thomas Knevett. He had a watch upon him, some touchwood, some +tinder, some slow matches; and there was a dark lantern with a candle +in it, lighted, behind the door. He had his boots and spurs on—to ride +to the ship, I suppose—and it was well for the soldiers that they took +him so suddenly. If they had left him but a moment’s time to light a +match, he certainly would have tossed it in among the powder, and blown +up himself and them. + +They took him to the King’s bed-chamber first of all, and there the +King (causing him to be held very tight, and keeping a good way off), +asked him how he could have the heart to intend to destroy so many +innocent people? ‘Because,’ said Guy Fawkes, ‘desperate diseases need +desperate remedies.’ To a little Scotch favourite, with a face like a +terrier, who asked him (with no particular wisdom) why he had collected +so much gunpowder, he replied, because he had meant to blow Scotchmen +back to Scotland, and it would take a deal of powder to do that. Next +day he was carried to the Tower, but would make no confession. Even +after being horribly tortured, he confessed nothing that the Government +did not already know; though he must have been in a fearful state—as +his signature, still preserved, in contrast with his natural +hand-writing before he was put upon the dreadful rack, most frightfully +shows. Bates, a very different man, soon said the Jesuits had had to do +with the plot, and probably, under the torture, would as readily have +said anything. Tresham, taken and put in the Tower too, made +confessions and unmade them, and died of an illness that was heavy upon +him. Rookwood, who had stationed relays of his own horses all the way +to Dunchurch, did not mount to escape until the middle of the day, when +the news of the plot was all over London. On the road, he came up with +the two Wrights, Catesby, and Percy; and they all galloped together +into Northamptonshire. Thence to Dunchurch, where they found the +proposed party assembled. Finding, however, that there had been a plot, +and that it had been discovered, the party disappeared in the course of +the night, and left them alone with Sir Everard Digby. Away they all +rode again, through Warwickshire and Worcestershire, to a house called +Holbeach, on the borders of Staffordshire. They tried to raise the +Catholics on their way, but were indignantly driven off by them. All +this time they were hotly pursued by the sheriff of Worcester, and a +fast increasing concourse of riders. At last, resolving to defend +themselves at Holbeach, they shut themselves up in the house, and put +some wet powder before the fire to dry. But it blew up, and Catesby was +singed and blackened, and almost killed, and some of the others were +sadly hurt. Still, knowing that they must die, they resolved to die +there, and with only their swords in their hands appeared at the +windows to be shot at by the sheriff and his assistants. Catesby said +to Thomas Winter, after Thomas had been hit in the right arm which +dropped powerless by his side, ‘Stand by me, Tom, and we will die +together!’—which they did, being shot through the body by two bullets +from one gun. John Wright, and Christopher Wright, and Percy, were also +shot. Rookwood and Digby were taken: the former with a broken arm and a +wound in his body too. + +It was the fifteenth of January, before the trial of Guy Fawkes, and +such of the other conspirators as were left alive, came on. They were +all found guilty, all hanged, drawn, and quartered: some, in St. Paul’s +Churchyard, on the top of Ludgate-hill; some, before the Parliament +House. A Jesuit priest, named Henry Garnet, to whom the dreadful design +was said to have been communicated, was taken and tried; and two of his +servants, as well as a poor priest who was taken with him, were +tortured without mercy. He himself was not tortured, but was surrounded +in the Tower by tamperers and traitors, and so was made unfairly to +convict himself out of his own mouth. He said, upon his trial, that he +had done all he could to prevent the deed, and that he could not make +public what had been told him in confession—though I am afraid he knew +of the plot in other ways. He was found guilty and executed, after a +manful defence, and the Catholic Church made a saint of him; some rich +and powerful persons, who had had nothing to do with the project, were +fined and imprisoned for it by the Star Chamber; the Catholics, in +general, who had recoiled with horror from the idea of the infernal +contrivance, were unjustly put under more severe laws than before; and +this was the end of the Gunpowder Plot. + +SECOND PART + +His Sowship would pretty willingly, I think, have blown the House of +Commons into the air himself; for, his dread and jealousy of it knew no +bounds all through his reign. When he was hard pressed for money he was +obliged to order it to meet, as he could get no money without it; and +when it asked him first to abolish some of the monopolies in +necessaries of life which were a great grievance to the people, and to +redress other public wrongs, he flew into a rage and got rid of it +again. At one time he wanted it to consent to the Union of England with +Scotland, and quarrelled about that. At another time it wanted him to +put down a most infamous Church abuse, called the High Commission +Court, and he quarrelled with it about that. At another time it +entreated him not to be quite so fond of his archbishops and bishops +who made speeches in his praise too awful to be related, but to have +some little consideration for the poor Puritan clergy who were +persecuted for preaching in their own way, and not according to the +archbishops and bishops; and they quarrelled about that. In short, what +with hating the House of Commons, and pretending not to hate it; and +what with now sending some of its members who opposed him, to Newgate +or to the Tower, and now telling the rest that they must not presume to +make speeches about the public affairs which could not possibly concern +them; and what with cajoling, and bullying, and fighting, and being +frightened; the House of Commons was the plague of his Sowship’s +existence. It was pretty firm, however, in maintaining its rights, and +insisting that the Parliament should make the laws, and not the King by +his own single proclamations (which he tried hard to do); and his +Sowship was so often distressed for money, in consequence, that he sold +every sort of title and public office as if they were merchandise, and +even invented a new dignity called a Baronetcy, which anybody could buy +for a thousand pounds. + +These disputes with his Parliaments, and his hunting, and his drinking, +and his lying in bed—for he was a great sluggard—occupied his Sowship +pretty well. The rest of his time he chiefly passed in hugging and +slobbering his favourites. The first of these was Sir Philip Herbert, +who had no knowledge whatever, except of dogs, and horses, and hunting, +but whom he soon made Earl of Montgomery. The next, and a much more +famous one, was Robert Carr, or Ker (for it is not certain which was +his right name), who came from the Border country, and whom he soon +made Viscount Rochester, and afterwards, Earl of Somerset. The way in +which his Sowship doted on this handsome young man, is even more odious +to think of, than the way in which the really great men of England +condescended to bow down before him. The favourite’s great friend was a +certain Sir Thomas Overbury, who wrote his love-letters for him, and +assisted him in the duties of his many high places, which his own +ignorance prevented him from discharging. But this same Sir Thomas +having just manhood enough to dissuade the favourite from a wicked +marriage with the beautiful Countess of Essex, who was to get a divorce +from her husband for the purpose, the said Countess, in her rage, got +Sir Thomas put into the Tower, and there poisoned him. Then the +favourite and this bad woman were publicly married by the King’s pet +bishop, with as much to-do and rejoicing, as if he had been the best +man, and she the best woman, upon the face of the earth. + +But, after a longer sunshine than might have been expected—of seven +years or so, that is to say—another handsome young man started up and +eclipsed the Earl of Somerset. This was George Villiers, the youngest +son of a Leicestershire gentleman: who came to Court with all the Paris +fashions on him, and could dance as well as the best mountebank that +ever was seen. He soon danced himself into the good graces of his +Sowship, and danced the other favourite out of favour. Then, it was all +at once discovered that the Earl and Countess of Somerset had not +deserved all those great promotions and mighty rejoicings, and they +were separately tried for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury, and for +other crimes. But, the King was so afraid of his late favourite’s +publicly telling some disgraceful things he knew of him—which he darkly +threatened to do—that he was even examined with two men standing, one +on either side of him, each with a cloak in his hand, ready to throw it +over his head and stop his mouth if he should break out with what he +had it in his power to tell. So, a very lame affair was purposely made +of the trial, and his punishment was an allowance of four thousand +pounds a year in retirement, while the Countess was pardoned, and +allowed to pass into retirement too. They hated one another by this +time, and lived to revile and torment each other some years. + +While these events were in progress, and while his Sowship was making +such an exhibition of himself, from day to day and from year to year, +as is not often seen in any sty, three remarkable deaths took place in +England. The first was that of the Minister, Robert Cecil, Earl of +Salisbury, who was past sixty, and had never been strong, being +deformed from his birth. He said at last that he had no wish to live; +and no Minister need have had, with his experience of the meanness and +wickedness of those disgraceful times. The second was that of the Lady +Arabella Stuart, who alarmed his Sowship mightily, by privately +marrying William Seymour, son of Lord Beauchamp, who was a descendant +of King Henry the Seventh, and who, his Sowship thought, might +consequently increase and strengthen any claim she might one day set up +to the throne. She was separated from her husband (who was put in the +Tower) and thrust into a boat to be confined at Durham. She escaped in +a man’s dress to get away in a French ship from Gravesend to France, +but unhappily missed her husband, who had escaped too, and was soon +taken. She went raving mad in the miserable Tower, and died there after +four years. The last, and the most important of these three deaths, was +that of Prince Henry, the heir to the throne, in the nineteenth year of +his age. He was a promising young prince, and greatly liked; a quiet, +well-conducted youth, of whom two very good things are known: first, +that his father was jealous of him; secondly, that he was the friend of +Sir Walter Raleigh, languishing through all those years in the Tower, +and often said that no man but his father would keep such a bird in +such a cage. On the occasion of the preparations for the marriage of +his sister the Princess Elizabeth with a foreign prince (and an unhappy +marriage it turned out), he came from Richmond, where he had been very +ill, to greet his new brother-in-law, at the palace at Whitehall. There +he played a great game at tennis, in his shirt, though it was very cold +weather, and was seized with an alarming illness, and died within a +fortnight of a putrid fever. For this young prince Sir Walter Raleigh +wrote, in his prison in the Tower, the beginning of a History of the +World: a wonderful instance how little his Sowship could do to confine +a great man’s mind, however long he might imprison his body. + +And this mention of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had many faults, but who +never showed so many merits as in trouble and adversity, may bring me +at once to the end of his sad story. After an imprisonment in the Tower +of twelve long years, he proposed to resume those old sea voyages of +his, and to go to South America in search of gold. His Sowship, divided +between his wish to be on good terms with the Spaniards through whose +territory Sir Walter must pass (he had long had an idea of marrying +Prince Henry to a Spanish Princess), and his avaricious eagerness to +get hold of the gold, did not know what to do. But, in the end, he set +Sir Walter free, taking securities for his return; and Sir Walter +fitted out an expedition at his own coast and, on the twenty-eighth of +March, one thousand six hundred and seventeen, sailed away in command +of one of its ships, which he ominously called the Destiny. The +expedition failed; the common men, not finding the gold they had +expected, mutinied; a quarrel broke out between Sir Walter and the +Spaniards, who hated him for old successes of his against them; and he +took and burnt a little town called Saint Thomas. For this he was +denounced to his Sowship by the Spanish Ambassador as a pirate; and +returning almost broken-hearted, with his hopes and fortunes shattered, +his company of friends dispersed, and his brave son (who had been one +of them) killed, he was taken—through the treachery of Sir Lewis +Stukely, his near relation, a scoundrel and a Vice-Admiral—and was once +again immured in his prison-home of so many years. + +His Sowship being mightily disappointed in not getting any gold, Sir +Walter Raleigh was tried as unfairly, and with as many lies and +evasions as the judges and law officers and every other authority in +Church and State habitually practised under such a King. After a great +deal of prevarication on all parts but his own, it was declared that he +must die under his former sentence, now fifteen years old. So, on the +twenty-eighth of October, one thousand six hundred and eighteen, he was +shut up in the Gate House at Westminster to pass his late night on +earth, and there he took leave of his good and faithful lady who was +worthy to have lived in better days. At eight o’clock next morning, +after a cheerful breakfast, and a pipe, and a cup of good wine, he was +taken to Old Palace Yard in Westminster, where the scaffold was set up, +and where so many people of high degree were assembled to see him die, +that it was a matter of some difficulty to get him through the crowd. +He behaved most nobly, but if anything lay heavy on his mind, it was +that Earl of Essex, whose head he had seen roll off; and he solemnly +said that he had had no hand in bringing him to the block, and that he +had shed tears for him when he died. As the morning was very cold, the +Sheriff said, would he come down to a fire for a little space, and warm +himself? But Sir Walter thanked him, and said no, he would rather it +were done at once, for he was ill of fever and ague, and in another +quarter of an hour his shaking fit would come upon him if he were still +alive, and his enemies might then suppose that he trembled for fear. +With that, he kneeled and made a very beautiful and Christian prayer. +Before he laid his head upon the block he felt the edge of the axe, and +said, with a smile upon his face, that it was a sharp medicine, but +would cure the worst disease. When he was bent down ready for death, he +said to the executioner, finding that he hesitated, ‘What dost thou +fear? Strike, man!’ So, the axe came down and struck his head off, in +the sixty-sixth year of his age. + +The new favourite got on fast. He was made a viscount, he was made Duke +of Buckingham, he was made a marquis, he was made Master of the Horse, +he was made Lord High Admiral—and the Chief Commander of the gallant +English forces that had dispersed the Spanish Armada, was displaced to +make room for him. He had the whole kingdom at his disposal, and his +mother sold all the profits and honours of the State, as if she had +kept a shop. He blazed all over with diamonds and other precious +stones, from his hatband and his earrings to his shoes. Yet he was an +ignorant presumptuous, swaggering compound of knave and fool, with +nothing but his beauty and his dancing to recommend him. This is the +gentleman who called himself his Majesty’s dog and slave, and called +his Majesty Your Sowship. His Sowship called him Steenie; it is +supposed, because that was a nickname for Stephen, and because St. +Stephen was generally represented in pictures as a handsome saint. + +His Sowship was driven sometimes to his wits’-end by his trimming +between the general dislike of the Catholic religion at home, and his +desire to wheedle and flatter it abroad, as his only means of getting a +rich princess for his son’s wife: a part of whose fortune he might cram +into his greasy pockets. Prince Charles—or as his Sowship called him, +Baby Charles—being now Prince of Wales, the old project of a marriage +with the Spanish King’s daughter had been revived for him; and as she +could not marry a Protestant without leave from the Pope, his Sowship +himself secretly and meanly wrote to his Infallibility, asking for it. +The negotiation for this Spanish marriage takes up a larger space in +great books, than you can imagine, but the upshot of it all is, that +when it had been held off by the Spanish Court for a long time, Baby +Charles and Steenie set off in disguise as Mr. Thomas Smith and Mr. +John Smith, to see the Spanish Princess; that Baby Charles pretended to +be desperately in love with her, and jumped off walls to look at her, +and made a considerable fool of himself in a good many ways; that she +was called Princess of Wales and that the whole Spanish Court believed +Baby Charles to be all but dying for her sake, as he expressly told +them he was; that Baby Charles and Steenie came back to England, and +were received with as much rapture as if they had been a blessing to +it; that Baby Charles had actually fallen in love with Henrietta Maria, +the French King’s sister, whom he had seen in Paris; that he thought it +a wonderfully fine and princely thing to have deceived the Spaniards, +all through; and that he openly said, with a chuckle, as soon as he was +safe and sound at home again, that the Spaniards were great fools to +have believed him. + +Like most dishonest men, the Prince and the favourite complained that +the people whom they had deluded were dishonest. They made such +misrepresentations of the treachery of the Spaniards in this business +of the Spanish match, that the English nation became eager for a war +with them. Although the gravest Spaniards laughed at the idea of his +Sowship in a warlike attitude, the Parliament granted money for the +beginning of hostilities, and the treaties with Spain were publicly +declared to be at an end. The Spanish ambassador in London—probably +with the help of the fallen favourite, the Earl of Somerset—being +unable to obtain speech with his Sowship, slipped a paper into his +hand, declaring that he was a prisoner in his own house, and was +entirely governed by Buckingham and his creatures. The first effect of +this letter was that his Sowship began to cry and whine, and took Baby +Charles away from Steenie, and went down to Windsor, gabbling all sorts +of nonsense. The end of it was that his Sowship hugged his dog and +slave, and said he was quite satisfied. + +He had given the Prince and the favourite almost unlimited power to +settle anything with the Pope as to the Spanish marriage; and he now, +with a view to the French one, signed a treaty that all Roman Catholics +in England should exercise their religion freely, and should never be +required to take any oath contrary thereto. In return for this, and for +other concessions much less to be defended, Henrietta Maria was to +become the Prince’s wife, and was to bring him a fortune of eight +hundred thousand crowns. + +His Sowship’s eyes were getting red with eagerly looking for the money, +when the end of a gluttonous life came upon him; and, after a +fortnight’s illness, on Sunday the twenty-seventh of March, one +thousand six hundred and twenty-five, he died. He had reigned +twenty-two years, and was fifty-nine years old. I know of nothing more +abominable in history than the adulation that was lavished on this +King, and the vice and corruption that such a barefaced habit of lying +produced in his court. It is much to be doubted whether one man of +honour, and not utterly self-disgraced, kept his place near James the +First. Lord Bacon, that able and wise philosopher, as the First Judge +in the Kingdom in this reign, became a public spectacle of dishonesty +and corruption; and in his base flattery of his Sowship, and in his +crawling servility to his dog and slave, disgraced himself even more. +But, a creature like his Sowship set upon a throne is like the Plague, +and everybody receives infection from him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII +ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE FIRST + + +Baby Charles became King Charles the First, in the twenty-fifth year of +his age. Unlike his father, he was usually amiable in his private +character, and grave and dignified in his bearing; but, like his +father, he had monstrously exaggerated notions of the rights of a king, +and was evasive, and not to be trusted. If his word could have been +relied upon, his history might have had a different end. + +His first care was to send over that insolent upstart, Buckingham, to +bring Henrietta Maria from Paris to be his Queen; upon which occasion +Buckingham—with his usual audacity—made love to the young Queen of +Austria, and was very indignant indeed with Cardinal Richelieu, the +French Minister, for thwarting his intentions. The English people were +very well disposed to like their new Queen, and to receive her with +great favour when she came among them as a stranger. But, she held the +Protestant religion in great dislike, and brought over a crowd of +unpleasant priests, who made her do some very ridiculous things, and +forced themselves upon the public notice in many disagreeable ways. +Hence, the people soon came to dislike her, and she soon came to +dislike them; and she did so much all through this reign in setting the +King (who was dotingly fond of her) against his subjects, that it would +have been better for him if she had never been born. + +Now, you are to understand that King Charles the First—of his own +determination to be a high and mighty King not to be called to account +by anybody, and urged on by his Queen besides—deliberately set himself +to put his Parliament down and to put himself up. You are also to +understand, that even in pursuit of this wrong idea (enough in itself +to have ruined any king) he never took a straight course, but always +took a crooked one. + +He was bent upon war with Spain, though neither the House of Commons +nor the people were quite clear as to the justice of that war, now that +they began to think a little more about the story of the Spanish match. +But the King rushed into it hotly, raised money by illegal means to +meet its expenses, and encountered a miserable failure at Cadiz, in the +very first year of his reign. An expedition to Cadiz had been made in +the hope of plunder, but as it was not successful, it was necessary to +get a grant of money from the Parliament; and when they met, in no very +complying humour, the King told them, ‘to make haste to let him have +it, or it would be the worse for themselves.’ Not put in a more +complying humour by this, they impeached the King’s favourite, the Duke +of Buckingham, as the cause (which he undoubtedly was) of many great +public grievances and wrongs. The King, to save him, dissolved the +Parliament without getting the money he wanted; and when the Lords +implored him to consider and grant a little delay, he replied, ‘No, not +one minute.’ He then began to raise money for himself by the following +means among others. + +He levied certain duties called tonnage and poundage which had not been +granted by the Parliament, and could lawfully be levied by no other +power; he called upon the seaport towns to furnish, and to pay all the +cost for three months of, a fleet of armed ships; and he required the +people to unite in lending him large sums of money, the repayment of +which was very doubtful. If the poor people refused, they were pressed +as soldiers or sailors; if the gentry refused, they were sent to +prison. Five gentlemen, named Sir Thomas Darnel, John Corbet, Walter +Earl, John Heveningham, and Everard Hampden, for refusing were taken up +by a warrant of the King’s privy council, and were sent to prison +without any cause but the King’s pleasure being stated for their +imprisonment. Then the question came to be solemnly tried, whether this +was not a violation of Magna Charta, and an encroachment by the King on +the highest rights of the English people. His lawyers contended No, +because to encroach upon the rights of the English people would be to +do wrong, and the King could do no wrong. The accommodating judges +decided in favour of this wicked nonsense; and here was a fatal +division between the King and the people. + +For all this, it became necessary to call another Parliament. The +people, sensible of the danger in which their liberties were, chose for +it those who were best known for their determined opposition to the +King; but still the King, quite blinded by his determination to carry +everything before him, addressed them when they met, in a contemptuous +manner, and just told them in so many words that he had only called +them together because he wanted money. The Parliament, strong enough +and resolute enough to know that they would lower his tone, cared +little for what he said, and laid before him one of the great documents +of history, which is called the Petition of Right, requiring that the +free men of England should no longer be called upon to lend the King +money, and should no longer be pressed or imprisoned for refusing to do +so; further, that the free men of England should no longer be seized by +the King’s special mandate or warrant, it being contrary to their +rights and liberties and the laws of their country. At first the King +returned an answer to this petition, in which he tried to shirk it +altogether; but, the House of Commons then showing their determination +to go on with the impeachment of Buckingham, the King in alarm returned +an answer, giving his consent to all that was required of him. He not +only afterwards departed from his word and honour on these points, over +and over again, but, at this very time, he did the mean and dissembling +act of publishing his first answer and not his second—merely that the +people might suppose that the Parliament had not got the better of him. + +That pestilent Buckingham, to gratify his own wounded vanity, had by +this time involved the country in war with France, as well as with +Spain. For such miserable causes and such miserable creatures are wars +sometimes made! But he was destined to do little more mischief in this +world. One morning, as he was going out of his house to his carriage, +he turned to speak to a certain Colonel Fryer who was with him; and he +was violently stabbed with a knife, which the murderer left sticking in +his heart. This happened in his hall. He had had angry words up-stairs, +just before, with some French gentlemen, who were immediately suspected +by his servants, and had a close escape from being set upon and killed. +In the midst of the noise, the real murderer, who had gone to the +kitchen and might easily have got away, drew his sword and cried out, +‘I am the man!’ His name was John Felton, a Protestant and a retired +officer in the army. He said he had had no personal ill-will to the +Duke, but had killed him as a curse to the country. He had aimed his +blow well, for Buckingham had only had time to cry out, ‘Villain!’ and +then he drew out the knife, fell against a table, and died. + +The council made a mighty business of examining John Felton about this +murder, though it was a plain case enough, one would think. He had come +seventy miles to do it, he told them, and he did it for the reason he +had declared; if they put him upon the rack, as that noble Marquis of +Dorset whom he saw before him, had the goodness to threaten, he gave +that marquis warning, that he would accuse _him_ as his accomplice! The +King was unpleasantly anxious to have him racked, nevertheless; but as +the judges now found out that torture was contrary to the law of +England—it is a pity they did not make the discovery a little +sooner—John Felton was simply executed for the murder he had done. A +murder it undoubtedly was, and not in the least to be defended: though +he had freed England from one of the most profligate, contemptible, and +base court favourites to whom it has ever yielded. + +A very different man now arose. This was Sir Thomas Wentworth, a +Yorkshire gentleman, who had sat in Parliament for a long time, and who +had favoured arbitrary and haughty principles, but who had gone over to +the people’s side on receiving offence from Buckingham. The King, much +wanting such a man—for, besides being naturally favourable to the +King’s cause, he had great abilities—made him first a Baron, and then a +Viscount, and gave him high employment, and won him most completely. + +A Parliament, however, was still in existence, and was _not_ to be won. +On the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and twenty-nine, +Sir John Eliot, a great man who had been active in the Petition of +Right, brought forward other strong resolutions against the King’s +chief instruments, and called upon the Speaker to put them to the vote. +To this the Speaker answered, ‘he was commanded otherwise by the King,’ +and got up to leave the chair—which, according to the rules of the +House of Commons would have obliged it to adjourn without doing +anything more—when two members, named Mr. Hollis and Mr. Valentine, +held him down. A scene of great confusion arose among the members; and +while many swords were drawn and flashing about, the King, who was kept +informed of all that was going on, told the captain of his guard to go +down to the House and force the doors. The resolutions were by that +time, however, voted, and the House adjourned. Sir John Eliot and those +two members who had held the Speaker down, were quickly summoned before +the council. As they claimed it to be their privilege not to answer out +of Parliament for anything they had said in it, they were committed to +the Tower. The King then went down and dissolved the Parliament, in a +speech wherein he made mention of these gentlemen as ‘Vipers’—which did +not do him much good that ever I have heard of. + +As they refused to gain their liberty by saying they were sorry for +what they had done, the King, always remarkably unforgiving, never +overlooked their offence. When they demanded to be brought up before +the court of King’s Bench, he even resorted to the meanness of having +them moved about from prison to prison, so that the writs issued for +that purpose should not legally find them. At last they came before the +court and were sentenced to heavy fines, and to be imprisoned during +the King’s pleasure. When Sir John Eliot’s health had quite given way, +and he so longed for change of air and scene as to petition for his +release, the King sent back the answer (worthy of his Sowship himself) +that the petition was not humble enough. When he sent another petition +by his young son, in which he pathetically offered to go back to prison +when his health was restored, if he might be released for its recovery, +the King still disregarded it. When he died in the Tower, and his +children petitioned to be allowed to take his body down to Cornwall, +there to lay it among the ashes of his forefathers, the King returned +for answer, ‘Let Sir John Eliot’s body be buried in the church of that +parish where he died.’ All this was like a very little King indeed, I +think. + +And now, for twelve long years, steadily pursuing his design of setting +himself up and putting the people down, the King called no Parliament; +but ruled without one. If twelve thousand volumes were written in his +praise (as a good many have been) it would still remain a fact, +impossible to be denied, that for twelve years King Charles the First +reigned in England unlawfully and despotically, seized upon his +subjects’ goods and money at his pleasure, and punished according to +his unbridled will all who ventured to oppose him. It is a fashion with +some people to think that this King’s career was cut short; but I must +say myself that I think he ran a pretty long one. + +William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, was the King’s right-hand man +in the religious part of the putting down of the people’s liberties. +Laud, who was a sincere man, of large learning but small sense—for the +two things sometimes go together in very different quantities—though a +Protestant, held opinions so near those of the Catholics, that the Pope +wanted to make a Cardinal of him, if he would have accepted that +favour. He looked upon vows, robes, lighted candles, images, and so +forth, as amazingly important in religious ceremonies; and he brought +in an immensity of bowing and candle-snuffing. He also regarded +archbishops and bishops as a sort of miraculous persons, and was +inveterate in the last degree against any who thought otherwise. +Accordingly, he offered up thanks to Heaven, and was in a state of much +pious pleasure, when a Scotch clergyman, named Leighton, was pilloried, +whipped, branded in the cheek, and had one of his ears cut off and one +of his nostrils slit, for calling bishops trumpery and the inventions +of men. He originated on a Sunday morning the prosecution of William +Prynne, a barrister who was of similar opinions, and who was fined a +thousand pounds; who was pilloried; who had his ears cut off on two +occasions—one ear at a time—and who was imprisoned for life. He highly +approved of the punishment of Doctor Bastwick, a physician; who was +also fined a thousand pounds; and who afterwards had _his_ ears cut +off, and was imprisoned for life. These were gentle methods of +persuasion, some will tell you: I think, they were rather calculated to +be alarming to the people. + +In the money part of the putting down of the people’s liberties, the +King was equally gentle, as some will tell you: as I think, equally +alarming. He levied those duties of tonnage and poundage, and increased +them as he thought fit. He granted monopolies to companies of merchants +on their paying him for them, notwithstanding the great complaints that +had, for years and years, been made on the subject of monopolies. He +fined the people for disobeying proclamations issued by his Sowship in +direct violation of law. He revived the detested Forest laws, and took +private property to himself as his forest right. Above all, he +determined to have what was called Ship Money; that is to say, money +for the support of the fleet—not only from the seaports, but from all +the counties of England: having found out that, in some ancient time or +other, all the counties paid it. The grievance of this ship money being +somewhat too strong, John Chambers, a citizen of London, refused to pay +his part of it. For this the Lord Mayor ordered John Chambers to +prison, and for that John Chambers brought a suit against the Lord +Mayor. Lord Say, also, behaved like a real nobleman, and declared he +would not pay. But, the sturdiest and best opponent of the ship money +was John Hampden, a gentleman of Buckinghamshire, who had sat among the +‘vipers’ in the House of Commons when there was such a thing, and who +had been the bosom friend of Sir John Eliot. This case was tried before +the twelve judges in the Court of Exchequer, and again the King’s +lawyers said it was impossible that ship money could be wrong, because +the King could do no wrong, however hard he tried—and he really did try +very hard during these twelve years. Seven of the judges said that was +quite true, and Mr. Hampden was bound to pay: five of the judges said +that was quite false, and Mr. Hampden was not bound to pay. So, the +King triumphed (as he thought), by making Hampden the most popular man +in England; where matters were getting to that height now, that many +honest Englishmen could not endure their country, and sailed away +across the seas to found a colony in Massachusetts Bay in America. It +is said that Hampden himself and his relation Oliver Cromwell were +going with a company of such voyagers, and were actually on board ship, +when they were stopped by a proclamation, prohibiting sea captains to +carry out such passengers without the royal license. But O! it would +have been well for the King if he had let them go! This was the state +of England. If Laud had been a madman just broke loose, he could not +have done more mischief than he did in Scotland. In his endeavours (in +which he was seconded by the King, then in person in that part of his +dominions) to force his own ideas of bishops, and his own religious +forms and ceremonies upon the Scotch, he roused that nation to a +perfect frenzy. They formed a solemn league, which they called The +Covenant, for the preservation of their own religious forms; they rose +in arms throughout the whole country; they summoned all their men to +prayers and sermons twice a day by beat of drum; they sang psalms, in +which they compared their enemies to all the evil spirits that ever +were heard of; and they solemnly vowed to smite them with the sword. At +first the King tried force, then treaty, then a Scottish Parliament +which did not answer at all. Then he tried the Earl of Strafford, +formerly Sir Thomas Wentworth; who, as Lord Wentworth, had been +governing Ireland. He, too, had carried it with a very high hand there, +though to the benefit and prosperity of that country. + +Strafford and Laud were for conquering the Scottish people by force of +arms. Other lords who were taken into council, recommended that a +Parliament should at last be called; to which the King unwillingly +consented. So, on the thirteenth of April, one thousand six hundred and +forty, that then strange sight, a Parliament, was seen at Westminster. +It is called the Short Parliament, for it lasted a very little while. +While the members were all looking at one another, doubtful who would +dare to speak, Mr. Pym arose and set forth all that the King had done +unlawfully during the past twelve years, and what was the position to +which England was reduced. This great example set, other members took +courage and spoke the truth freely, though with great patience and +moderation. The King, a little frightened, sent to say that if they +would grant him a certain sum on certain terms, no more ship money +should be raised. They debated the matter for two days; and then, as +they would not give him all he asked without promise or inquiry, he +dissolved them. + +But they knew very well that he must have a Parliament now; and he +began to make that discovery too, though rather late in the day. +Wherefore, on the twenty-fourth of September, being then at York with +an army collected against the Scottish people, but his own men sullen +and discontented like the rest of the nation, the King told the great +council of the Lords, whom he had called to meet him there, that he +would summon another Parliament to assemble on the third of November. +The soldiers of the Covenant had now forced their way into England and +had taken possession of the northern counties, where the coals are got. +As it would never do to be without coals, and as the King’s troops +could make no head against the Covenanters so full of gloomy zeal, a +truce was made, and a treaty with Scotland was taken into +consideration. Meanwhile the northern counties paid the Covenanters to +leave the coals alone, and keep quiet. + +We have now disposed of the Short Parliament. We have next to see what +memorable things were done by the Long one. + +SECOND PART + +The Long Parliament assembled on the third of November, one thousand +six hundred and forty-one. That day week the Earl of Strafford arrived +from York, very sensible that the spirited and determined men who +formed that Parliament were no friends towards him, who had not only +deserted the cause of the people, but who had on all occasions opposed +himself to their liberties. The King told him, for his comfort, that +the Parliament ‘should not hurt one hair of his head.’ But, on the very +next day Mr. Pym, in the House of Commons, and with great solemnity, +impeached the Earl of Strafford as a traitor. He was immediately taken +into custody and fell from his proud height. + +It was the twenty-second of March before he was brought to trial in +Westminster Hall; where, although he was very ill and suffered great +pain, he defended himself with such ability and majesty, that it was +doubtful whether he would not get the best of it. But on the thirteenth +day of the trial, Pym produced in the House of Commons a copy of some +notes of a council, found by young Sir Harry Vane in a red velvet +cabinet belonging to his father (Secretary Vane, who sat at the +council-table with the Earl), in which Strafford had distinctly told +the King that he was free from all rules and obligations of government, +and might do with his people whatever he liked; and in which he had +added—‘You have an army in Ireland that you may employ to reduce this +kingdom to obedience.’ It was not clear whether by the words ‘this +kingdom,’ he had really meant England or Scotland; but the Parliament +contended that he meant England, and this was treason. At the same +sitting of the House of Commons it was resolved to bring in a bill of +attainder declaring the treason to have been committed: in preference +to proceeding with the trial by impeachment, which would have required +the treason to be proved. + +So, a bill was brought in at once, was carried through the House of +Commons by a large majority, and was sent up to the House of Lords. +While it was still uncertain whether the House of Lords would pass it +and the King consent to it, Pym disclosed to the House of Commons that +the King and Queen had both been plotting with the officers of the army +to bring up the soldiers and control the Parliament, and also to +introduce two hundred soldiers into the Tower of London to effect the +Earl’s escape. The plotting with the army was revealed by one George +Goring, the son of a lord of that name: a bad fellow who was one of the +original plotters, and turned traitor. The King had actually given his +warrant for the admission of the two hundred men into the Tower, and +they would have got in too, but for the refusal of the governor—a +sturdy Scotchman of the name of Balfour—to admit them. These matters +being made public, great numbers of people began to riot outside the +Houses of Parliament, and to cry out for the execution of the Earl of +Strafford, as one of the King’s chief instruments against them. The +bill passed the House of Lords while the people were in this state of +agitation, and was laid before the King for his assent, together with +another bill declaring that the Parliament then assembled should not be +dissolved or adjourned without their own consent. The King—not +unwilling to save a faithful servant, though he had no great attachment +for him—was in some doubt what to do; but he gave his consent to both +bills, although he in his heart believed that the bill against the Earl +of Strafford was unlawful and unjust. The Earl had written to him, +telling him that he was willing to die for his sake. But he had not +expected that his royal master would take him at his word quite so +readily; for, when he heard his doom, he laid his hand upon his heart, +and said, ‘Put not your trust in Princes!’ + +The King, who never could be straightforward and plain, through one +single day or through one single sheet of paper, wrote a letter to the +Lords, and sent it by the young Prince of Wales, entreating them to +prevail with the Commons that ‘that unfortunate man should fulfil the +natural course of his life in a close imprisonment.’ In a postscript to +the very same letter, he added, ‘If he must die, it were charity to +reprieve him till Saturday.’ If there had been any doubt of his fate, +this weakness and meanness would have settled it. The very next day, +which was the twelfth of May, he was brought out to be beheaded on +Tower Hill. + +Archbishop Laud, who had been so fond of having people’s ears cropped +off and their noses slit, was now confined in the Tower too; and when +the Earl went by his window to his death, he was there, at his request, +to give him his blessing. They had been great friends in the King’s +cause, and the Earl had written to him in the days of their power that +he thought it would be an admirable thing to have Mr. Hampden publicly +whipped for refusing to pay the ship money. However, those high and +mighty doings were over now, and the Earl went his way to death with +dignity and heroism. The governor wished him to get into a coach at the +Tower gate, for fear the people should tear him to pieces; but he said +it was all one to him whether he died by the axe or by the people’s +hands. So, he walked, with a firm tread and a stately look, and +sometimes pulled off his hat to them as he passed along. They were +profoundly quiet. He made a speech on the scaffold from some notes he +had prepared (the paper was found lying there after his head was struck +off), and one blow of the axe killed him, in the forty-ninth year of +his age. + +This bold and daring act, the Parliament accompanied by other famous +measures, all originating (as even this did) in the King’s having so +grossly and so long abused his power. The name of Delinquents was +applied to all sheriffs and other officers who had been concerned in +raising the ship money, or any other money, from the people, in an +unlawful manner; the Hampden judgment was reversed; the judges who had +decided against Hampden were called upon to give large securities that +they would take such consequences as Parliament might impose upon them; +and one was arrested as he sat in High Court, and carried off to +prison. Laud was impeached; the unfortunate victims whose ears had been +cropped and whose noses had been slit, were brought out of prison in +triumph; and a bill was passed declaring that a Parliament should be +called every third year, and that if the King and the King’s officers +did not call it, the people should assemble of themselves and summon +it, as of their own right and power. Great illuminations and rejoicings +took place over all these things, and the country was wildly excited. +That the Parliament took advantage of this excitement and stirred them +up by every means, there is no doubt; but you are always to remember +those twelve long years, during which the King had tried so hard +whether he really could do any wrong or not. + +All this time there was a great religious outcry against the right of +the Bishops to sit in Parliament; to which the Scottish people +particularly objected. The English were divided on this subject, and, +partly on this account and partly because they had had foolish +expectations that the Parliament would be able to take off nearly all +the taxes, numbers of them sometimes wavered and inclined towards the +King. + +I believe myself, that if, at this or almost any other period of his +life, the King could have been trusted by any man not out of his +senses, he might have saved himself and kept his throne. But, on the +English army being disbanded, he plotted with the officers again, as he +had done before, and established the fact beyond all doubt by putting +his signature of approval to a petition against the Parliamentary +leaders, which was drawn up by certain officers. When the Scottish army +was disbanded, he went to Edinburgh in four days—which was going very +fast at that time—to plot again, and so darkly too, that it is +difficult to decide what his whole object was. Some suppose that he +wanted to gain over the Scottish Parliament, as he did in fact gain +over, by presents and favours, many Scottish lords and men of power. +Some think that he went to get proofs against the Parliamentary leaders +in England of their having treasonably invited the Scottish people to +come and help them. With whatever object he went to Scotland, he did +little good by going. At the instigation of the Earl of Montrose, a +desperate man who was then in prison for plotting, he tried to kidnap +three Scottish lords who escaped. A committee of the Parliament at +home, who had followed to watch him, writing an account of this +Incident, as it was called, to the Parliament, the Parliament made a +fresh stir about it; were, or feigned to be, much alarmed for +themselves; and wrote to the Earl of Essex, the commander-in-chief, for +a guard to protect them. + +It is not absolutely proved that the King plotted in Ireland besides, +but it is very probable that he did, and that the Queen did, and that +he had some wild hope of gaining the Irish people over to his side by +favouring a rise among them. Whether or no, they did rise in a most +brutal and savage rebellion; in which, encouraged by their priests, +they committed such atrocities upon numbers of the English, of both +sexes and of all ages, as nobody could believe, but for their being +related on oath by eye-witnesses. Whether one hundred thousand or two +hundred thousand Protestants were murdered in this outbreak, is +uncertain; but, that it was as ruthless and barbarous an outbreak as +ever was known among any savage people, is certain. + +The King came home from Scotland, determined to make a great struggle +for his lost power. He believed that, through his presents and favours, +Scotland would take no part against him; and the Lord Mayor of London +received him with such a magnificent dinner that he thought he must +have become popular again in England. It would take a good many Lord +Mayors, however, to make a people, and the King soon found himself +mistaken. + +Not so soon, though, but that there was a great opposition in the +Parliament to a celebrated paper put forth by Pym and Hampden and the +rest, called ‘The Remonstrance,’ which set forth all the illegal acts +that the King had ever done, but politely laid the blame of them on his +bad advisers. Even when it was passed and presented to him, the King +still thought himself strong enough to discharge Balfour from his +command in the Tower, and to put in his place a man of bad character; +to whom the Commons instantly objected, and whom he was obliged to +abandon. At this time, the old outcry about the Bishops became louder +than ever, and the old Archbishop of York was so near being murdered as +he went down to the House of Lords—being laid hold of by the mob and +violently knocked about, in return for very foolishly scolding a shrill +boy who was yelping out ‘No Bishops!’—that he sent for all the Bishops +who were in town, and proposed to them to sign a declaration that, as +they could no longer without danger to their lives attend their duty in +Parliament, they protested against the lawfulness of everything done in +their absence. This they asked the King to send to the House of Lords, +which he did. Then the House of Commons impeached the whole party of +Bishops and sent them off to the Tower: + +Taking no warning from this; but encouraged by there being a moderate +party in the Parliament who objected to these strong measures, the +King, on the third of January, one thousand six hundred and forty-two, +took the rashest step that ever was taken by mortal man. + +Of his own accord and without advice, he sent the Attorney-General to +the House of Lords, to accuse of treason certain members of Parliament +who as popular leaders were the most obnoxious to him; Lord Kimbolton, +Sir Arthur Haselrig, Denzil Hollis, John Pym (they used to call him +King Pym, he possessed such power and looked so big), John Hampden, and +William Strode. The houses of those members he caused to be entered, +and their papers to be sealed up. At the same time, he sent a messenger +to the House of Commons demanding to have the five gentlemen who were +members of that House immediately produced. To this the House replied +that they should appear as soon as there was any legal charge against +them, and immediately adjourned. + +Next day, the House of Commons send into the City to let the Lord Mayor +know that their privileges are invaded by the King, and that there is +no safety for anybody or anything. Then, when the five members are gone +out of the way, down comes the King himself, with all his guard and +from two to three hundred gentlemen and soldiers, of whom the greater +part were armed. These he leaves in the hall; and then, with his nephew +at his side, goes into the House, takes off his hat, and walks up to +the Speaker’s chair. The Speaker leaves it, the King stands in front of +it, looks about him steadily for a little while, and says he has come +for those five members. No one speaks, and then he calls John Pym by +name. No one speaks, and then he calls Denzil Hollis by name. No one +speaks, and then he asks the Speaker of the House where those five +members are? The Speaker, answering on his knee, nobly replies that he +is the servant of that House, and that he has neither eyes to see, nor +tongue to speak, anything but what the House commands him. Upon this, +the King, beaten from that time evermore, replies that he will seek +them himself, for they have committed treason; and goes out, with his +hat in his hand, amid some audible murmurs from the members. + +No words can describe the hurry that arose out of doors when all this +was known. The five members had gone for safety to a house in +Coleman-street, in the City, where they were guarded all night; and +indeed the whole city watched in arms like an army. At ten o’clock in +the morning, the King, already frightened at what he had done, came to +the Guildhall, with only half a dozen lords, and made a speech to the +people, hoping they would not shelter those whom he accused of treason. +Next day, he issued a proclamation for the apprehension of the five +members; but the Parliament minded it so little that they made great +arrangements for having them brought down to Westminster in great +state, five days afterwards. The King was so alarmed now at his own +imprudence, if not for his own safety, that he left his palace at +Whitehall, and went away with his Queen and children to Hampton Court. + +It was the eleventh of May, when the five members were carried in state +and triumph to Westminster. They were taken by water. The river could +not be seen for the boats on it; and the five members were hemmed in by +barges full of men and great guns, ready to protect them, at any cost. +Along the Strand a large body of the train-bands of London, under their +commander, Skippon, marched to be ready to assist the little fleet. +Beyond them, came a crowd who choked the streets, roaring incessantly +about the Bishops and the Papists, and crying out contemptuously as +they passed Whitehall, ‘What has become of the King?’ With this great +noise outside the House of Commons, and with great silence within, Mr. +Pym rose and informed the House of the great kindness with which they +had been received in the City. Upon that, the House called the sheriffs +in and thanked them, and requested the train-bands, under their +commander Skippon, to guard the House of Commons every day. Then, came +four thousand men on horseback out of Buckinghamshire, offering their +services as a guard too, and bearing a petition to the King, +complaining of the injury that had been done to Mr. Hampden, who was +their county man and much beloved and honoured. + +When the King set off for Hampton Court, the gentlemen and soldiers who +had been with him followed him out of town as far as +Kingston-upon-Thames; next day, Lord Digby came to them from the King +at Hampton Court, in his coach and six, to inform them that the King +accepted their protection. This, the Parliament said, was making war +against the kingdom, and Lord Digby fled abroad. The Parliament then +immediately applied themselves to getting hold of the military power of +the country, well knowing that the King was already trying hard to use +it against them, and that he had secretly sent the Earl of Newcastle to +Hull, to secure a valuable magazine of arms and gunpowder that was +there. In those times, every county had its own magazines of arms and +powder, for its own train-bands or militia; so, the Parliament brought +in a bill claiming the right (which up to this time had belonged to the +King) of appointing the Lord Lieutenants of counties, who commanded +these train-bands; also, of having all the forts, castles, and +garrisons in the kingdom, put into the hands of such governors as they, +the Parliament, could confide in. It also passed a law depriving the +Bishops of their votes. The King gave his assent to that bill, but +would not abandon the right of appointing the Lord Lieutenants, though +he said he was willing to appoint such as might be suggested to him by +the Parliament. When the Earl of Pembroke asked him whether he would +not give way on that question for a time, he said, ‘By God! not for one +hour!’ and upon this he and the Parliament went to war. + +His young daughter was betrothed to the Prince of Orange. On pretence +of taking her to the country of her future husband, the Queen was +already got safely away to Holland, there to pawn the Crown jewels for +money to raise an army on the King’s side. The Lord Admiral being sick, +the House of Commons now named the Earl of Warwick to hold his place +for a year. The King named another gentleman; the House of Commons took +its own way, and the Earl of Warwick became Lord Admiral without the +King’s consent. The Parliament sent orders down to Hull to have that +magazine removed to London; the King went down to Hull to take it +himself. The citizens would not admit him into the town, and the +governor would not admit him into the castle. The Parliament resolved +that whatever the two Houses passed, and the King would not consent to, +should be called an Ordinance, and should be as much a law as if he did +consent to it. The King protested against this, and gave notice that +these ordinances were not to be obeyed. The King, attended by the +majority of the House of Peers, and by many members of the House of +Commons, established himself at York. The Chancellor went to him with +the Great Seal, and the Parliament made a new Great Seal. The Queen +sent over a ship full of arms and ammunition, and the King issued +letters to borrow money at high interest. The Parliament raised twenty +regiments of foot and seventy-five troops of horse; and the people +willingly aided them with their money, plate, jewellery, and +trinkets—the married women even with their wedding-rings. Every member +of Parliament who could raise a troop or a regiment in his own part of +the country, dressed it according to his taste and in his own colours, +and commanded it. Foremost among them all, Oliver Cromwell raised a +troop of horse—thoroughly in earnest and thoroughly well armed—who +were, perhaps, the best soldiers that ever were seen. + +In some of their proceedings, this famous Parliament passed the bounds +of previous law and custom, yielded to and favoured riotous assemblages +of the people, and acted tyrannically in imprisoning some who differed +from the popular leaders. But again, you are always to remember that +the twelve years during which the King had had his own wilful way, had +gone before; and that nothing could make the times what they might, +could, would, or should have been, if those twelve years had never +rolled away. + +THIRD PART + +I shall not try to relate the particulars of the great civil war +between King Charles the First and the Long Parliament, which lasted +nearly four years, and a full account of which would fill many large +books. It was a sad thing that Englishmen should once more be fighting +against Englishmen on English ground; but, it is some consolation to +know that on both sides there was great humanity, forbearance, and +honour. The soldiers of the Parliament were far more remarkable for +these good qualities than the soldiers of the King (many of whom fought +for mere pay without much caring for the cause); but those of the +nobility and gentry who were on the King’s side were so brave, and so +faithful to him, that their conduct cannot but command our highest +admiration. Among them were great numbers of Catholics, who took the +royal side because the Queen was so strongly of their persuasion. + +The King might have distinguished some of these gallant spirits, if he +had been as generous a spirit himself, by giving them the command of +his army. Instead of that, however, true to his old high notions of +royalty, he entrusted it to his two nephews, Prince Rupert and Prince +Maurice, who were of royal blood and came over from abroad to help him. +It might have been better for him if they had stayed away; since Prince +Rupert was an impetuous, hot-headed fellow, whose only idea was to dash +into battle at all times and seasons, and lay about him. + +The general-in-chief of the Parliamentary army was the Earl of Essex, a +gentleman of honour and an excellent soldier. A little while before the +war broke out, there had been some rioting at Westminster between +certain officious law students and noisy soldiers, and the shopkeepers +and their apprentices, and the general people in the streets. At that +time the King’s friends called the crowd, Roundheads, because the +apprentices wore short hair; the crowd, in return, called their +opponents Cavaliers, meaning that they were a blustering set, who +pretended to be very military. These two words now began to be used to +distinguish the two sides in the civil war. The Royalists also called +the Parliamentary men Rebels and Rogues, while the Parliamentary men +called _them_ Malignants, and spoke of themselves as the Godly, the +Honest, and so forth. + +The war broke out at Portsmouth, where that double traitor Goring had +again gone over to the King and was besieged by the Parliamentary +troops. Upon this, the King proclaimed the Earl of Essex and the +officers serving under him, traitors, and called upon his loyal +subjects to meet him in arms at Nottingham on the twenty-fifth of +August. But his loyal subjects came about him in scanty numbers, and it +was a windy, gloomy day, and the Royal Standard got blown down, and the +whole affair was very melancholy. The chief engagements after this, +took place in the vale of the Red Horse near Banbury, at Brentford, at +Devizes, at Chalgrave Field (where Mr. Hampden was so sorely wounded +while fighting at the head of his men, that he died within a week), at +Newbury (in which battle Lord Falkland, one of the best noblemen on the +King’s side, was killed), at Leicester, at Naseby, at Winchester, at +Marston Moor near York, at Newcastle, and in many other parts of +England and Scotland. These battles were attended with various +successes. At one time, the King was victorious; at another time, the +Parliament. But almost all the great and busy towns were against the +King; and when it was considered necessary to fortify London, all ranks +of people, from labouring men and women, up to lords and ladies, worked +hard together with heartiness and good will. The most distinguished +leaders on the Parliamentary side were Hampden, Sir Thomas Fairfax, +and, above all, Oliver Cromwell, and his son-in-law Ireton. + +During the whole of this war, the people, to whom it was very expensive +and irksome, and to whom it was made the more distressing by almost +every family being divided—some of its members attaching themselves to +one side and some to the other—were over and over again most anxious +for peace. So were some of the best men in each cause. Accordingly, +treaties of peace were discussed between commissioners from the +Parliament and the King; at York, at Oxford (where the King held a +little Parliament of his own), and at Uxbridge. But they came to +nothing. In all these negotiations, and in all his difficulties, the +King showed himself at his best. He was courageous, cool, +self-possessed, and clever; but, the old taint of his character was +always in him, and he was never for one single moment to be trusted. +Lord Clarendon, the historian, one of his highest admirers, supposes +that he had unhappily promised the Queen never to make peace without +her consent, and that this must often be taken as his excuse. He never +kept his word from night to morning. He signed a cessation of +hostilities with the blood-stained Irish rebels for a sum of money, and +invited the Irish regiments over, to help him against the Parliament. +In the battle of Naseby, his cabinet was seized and was found to +contain a correspondence with the Queen, in which he expressly told her +that he had deceived the Parliament—a mongrel Parliament, he called it +now, as an improvement on his old term of vipers—in pretending to +recognise it and to treat with it; and from which it further appeared +that he had long been in secret treaty with the Duke of Lorraine for a +foreign army of ten thousand men. Disappointed in this, he sent a most +devoted friend of his, the Earl of Glamorgan, to Ireland, to conclude a +secret treaty with the Catholic powers, to send him an Irish army of +ten thousand men; in return for which he was to bestow great favours on +the Catholic religion. And, when this treaty was discovered in the +carriage of a fighting Irish Archbishop who was killed in one of the +many skirmishes of those days, he basely denied and deserted his +attached friend, the Earl, on his being charged with high treason; +and—even worse than this—had left blanks in the secret instructions he +gave him with his own kingly hand, expressly that he might thus save +himself. + +At last, on the twenty-seventh day of April, one thousand six hundred +and forty-six, the King found himself in the city of Oxford, so +surrounded by the Parliamentary army who were closing in upon him on +all sides that he felt that if he would escape he must delay no longer. +So, that night, having altered the cut of his hair and beard, he was +dressed up as a servant and put upon a horse with a cloak strapped +behind him, and rode out of the town behind one of his own faithful +followers, with a clergyman of that country who knew the road well, for +a guide. He rode towards London as far as Harrow, and then altered his +plans and resolved, it would seem, to go to the Scottish camp. The +Scottish men had been invited over to help the Parliamentary army, and +had a large force then in England. The King was so desperately +intriguing in everything he did, that it is doubtful what he exactly +meant by this step. He took it, anyhow, and delivered himself up to the +Earl of Leven, the Scottish general-in-chief, who treated him as an +honourable prisoner. Negotiations between the Parliament on the one +hand and the Scottish authorities on the other, as to what should be +done with him, lasted until the following February. Then, when the King +had refused to the Parliament the concession of that old militia point +for twenty years, and had refused to Scotland the recognition of its +Solemn League and Covenant, Scotland got a handsome sum for its army +and its help, and the King into the bargain. He was taken, by certain +Parliamentary commissioners appointed to receive him, to one of his own +houses, called Holmby House, near Althorpe, in Northamptonshire. + +While the Civil War was still in progress, John Pym died, and was +buried with great honour in Westminster Abbey—not with greater honour +than he deserved, for the liberties of Englishmen owe a mighty debt to +Pym and Hampden. The war was but newly over when the Earl of Essex +died, of an illness brought on by his having overheated himself in a +stag hunt in Windsor Forest. He, too, was buried in Westminster Abbey, +with great state. I wish it were not necessary to add that Archbishop +Laud died upon the scaffold when the war was not yet done. His trial +lasted in all nearly a year, and, it being doubtful even then whether +the charges brought against him amounted to treason, the odious old +contrivance of the worst kings was resorted to, and a bill of attainder +was brought in against him. He was a violently prejudiced and +mischievous person; had had strong ear-cropping and nose-splitting +propensities, as you know; and had done a world of harm. But he died +peaceably, and like a brave old man. + +FOURTH PART + +When the Parliament had got the King into their hands, they became very +anxious to get rid of their army, in which Oliver Cromwell had begun to +acquire great power; not only because of his courage and high +abilities, but because he professed to be very sincere in the Scottish +sort of Puritan religion that was then exceedingly popular among the +soldiers. They were as much opposed to the Bishops as to the Pope +himself; and the very privates, drummers, and trumpeters, had such an +inconvenient habit of starting up and preaching long-winded discourses, +that I would not have belonged to that army on any account. + +So, the Parliament, being far from sure but that the army might begin +to preach and fight against them now it had nothing else to do, +proposed to disband the greater part of it, to send another part to +serve in Ireland against the rebels, and to keep only a small force in +England. But, the army would not consent to be broken up, except upon +its own conditions; and, when the Parliament showed an intention of +compelling it, it acted for itself in an unexpected manner. A certain +cornet, of the name of Joice, arrived at Holmby House one night, +attended by four hundred horsemen, went into the King’s room with his +hat in one hand and a pistol in the other, and told the King that he +had come to take him away. The King was willing enough to go, and only +stipulated that he should be publicly required to do so next morning. +Next morning, accordingly, he appeared on the top of the steps of the +house, and asked Comet Joice before his men and the guard set there by +the Parliament, what authority he had for taking him away? To this +Cornet Joice replied, ‘The authority of the army.’ ‘Have you a written +commission?’ said the King. Joice, pointing to his four hundred men on +horseback, replied, ‘That is my commission.’ ‘Well,’ said the King, +smiling, as if he were pleased, ‘I never before read such a commission; +but it is written in fair and legible characters. This is a company of +as handsome proper gentlemen as I have seen a long while.’ He was asked +where he would like to live, and he said at Newmarket. So, to Newmarket +he and Cornet Joice and the four hundred horsemen rode; the King +remarking, in the same smiling way, that he could ride as far at a +spell as Cornet Joice, or any man there. + +The King quite believed, I think, that the army were his friends. He +said as much to Fairfax when that general, Oliver Cromwell, and Ireton, +went to persuade him to return to the custody of the Parliament. He +preferred to remain as he was, and resolved to remain as he was. And +when the army moved nearer and nearer London to frighten the Parliament +into yielding to their demands, they took the King with them. It was a +deplorable thing that England should be at the mercy of a great body of +soldiers with arms in their hands; but the King certainly favoured them +at this important time of his life, as compared with the more lawful +power that tried to control him. It must be added, however, that they +treated him, as yet, more respectfully and kindly than the Parliament +had done. They allowed him to be attended by his own servants, to be +splendidly entertained at various houses, and to see his children—at +Cavesham House, near Reading—for two days. Whereas, the Parliament had +been rather hard with him, and had only allowed him to ride out and +play at bowls. + +It is much to be believed that if the King could have been trusted, +even at this time, he might have been saved. Even Oliver Cromwell +expressly said that he did believe that no man could enjoy his +possessions in peace, unless the King had his rights. He was not +unfriendly towards the King; he had been present when he received his +children, and had been much affected by the pitiable nature of the +scene; he saw the King often; he frequently walked and talked with him +in the long galleries and pleasant gardens of the Palace at Hampton +Court, whither he was now removed; and in all this risked something of +his influence with the army. But, the King was in secret hopes of help +from the Scottish people; and the moment he was encouraged to join them +he began to be cool to his new friends, the army, and to tell the +officers that they could not possibly do without him. At the very time, +too, when he was promising to make Cromwell and Ireton noblemen, if +they would help him up to his old height, he was writing to the Queen +that he meant to hang them. They both afterwards declared that they had +been privately informed that such a letter would be found, on a certain +evening, sewed up in a saddle which would be taken to the Blue Boar in +Holborn to be sent to Dover; and that they went there, disguised as +common soldiers, and sat drinking in the inn-yard until a man came with +the saddle, which they ripped up with their knives, and therein found +the letter. I see little reason to doubt the story. It is certain that +Oliver Cromwell told one of the King’s most faithful followers that the +King could not be trusted, and that he would not be answerable if +anything amiss were to happen to him. Still, even after that, he kept a +promise he had made to the King, by letting him know that there was a +plot with a certain portion of the army to seize him. I believe that, +in fact, he sincerely wanted the King to escape abroad, and so to be +got rid of without more trouble or danger. That Oliver himself had work +enough with the army is pretty plain; for some of the troops were so +mutinous against him, and against those who acted with him at this +time, that he found it necessary to have one man shot at the head of +his regiment to overawe the rest. + +The King, when he received Oliver’s warning, made his escape from +Hampton Court; after some indecision and uncertainty, he went to +Carisbrooke Castle in the Isle of Wight. At first, he was pretty free +there; but, even there, he carried on a pretended treaty with the +Parliament, while he was really treating with commissioners from +Scotland to send an army into England to take his part. When he broke +off this treaty with the Parliament (having settled with Scotland) and +was treated as a prisoner, his treatment was not changed too soon, for +he had plotted to escape that very night to a ship sent by the Queen, +which was lying off the island. + +He was doomed to be disappointed in his hopes from Scotland. The +agreement he had made with the Scottish Commissioners was not +favourable enough to the religion of that country to please the +Scottish clergy; and they preached against it. The consequence was, +that the army raised in Scotland and sent over, was too small to do +much; and that, although it was helped by a rising of the Royalists in +England and by good soldiers from Ireland, it could make no head +against the Parliamentary army under such men as Cromwell and Fairfax. +The King’s eldest son, the Prince of Wales, came over from Holland with +nineteen ships (a part of the English fleet having gone over to him) to +help his father; but nothing came of his voyage, and he was fain to +return. The most remarkable event of this second civil war was the +cruel execution by the Parliamentary General, of Sir Charles Lucas and +Sir George Lisle, two grand Royalist generals, who had bravely defended +Colchester under every disadvantage of famine and distress for nearly +three months. When Sir Charles Lucas was shot, Sir George Lisle kissed +his body, and said to the soldiers who were to shoot him, ‘Come nearer, +and make sure of me.’ ‘I warrant you, Sir George,’ said one of the +soldiers, ‘we shall hit you.’ ‘Ay?’ he returned with a smile, ‘but I +have been nearer to you, my friends, many a time, and you have missed +me.’ + +The Parliament, after being fearfully bullied by the army—who demanded +to have seven members whom they disliked given up to them—had voted +that they would have nothing more to do with the King. On the +conclusion, however, of this second civil war (which did not last more +than six months), they appointed commissioners to treat with him. The +King, then so far released again as to be allowed to live in a private +house at Newport in the Isle of Wight, managed his own part of the +negotiation with a sense that was admired by all who saw him, and gave +up, in the end, all that was asked of him—even yielding (which he had +steadily refused, so far) to the temporary abolition of the bishops, +and the transfer of their church land to the Crown. Still, with his old +fatal vice upon him, when his best friends joined the commissioners in +beseeching him to yield all those points as the only means of saving +himself from the army, he was plotting to escape from the island; he +was holding correspondence with his friends and the Catholics in +Ireland, though declaring that he was not; and he was writing, with his +own hand, that in what he yielded he meant nothing but to get time to +escape. + +Matters were at this pass when the army, resolved to defy the +Parliament, marched up to London. The Parliament, not afraid of them +now, and boldly led by Hollis, voted that the King’s concessions were +sufficient ground for settling the peace of the kingdom. Upon that, +Colonel Rich and Colonel Pride went down to the House of Commons with a +regiment of horse soldiers and a regiment of foot; and Colonel Pride, +standing in the lobby with a list of the members who were obnoxious to +the army in his hand, had them pointed out to him as they came through, +and took them all into custody. This proceeding was afterwards called +by the people, for a joke, Pride’s Purge. Cromwell was in the North, at +the head of his men, at the time, but when he came home, approved of +what had been done. + +What with imprisoning some members and causing others to stay away, the +army had now reduced the House of Commons to some fifty or so. These +soon voted that it was treason in a king to make war against his +parliament and his people, and sent an ordinance up to the House of +Lords for the King’s being tried as a traitor. The House of Lords, then +sixteen in number, to a man rejected it. Thereupon, the Commons made an +ordinance of their own, that they were the supreme government of the +country, and would bring the King to trial. + +The King had been taken for security to a place called Hurst Castle: a +lonely house on a rock in the sea, connected with the coast of +Hampshire by a rough road two miles long at low water. Thence, he was +ordered to be removed to Windsor; thence, after being but rudely used +there, and having none but soldiers to wait upon him at table, he was +brought up to St. James’s Palace in London, and told that his trial was +appointed for next day. + +On Saturday, the twentieth of January, one thousand six hundred and +forty-nine, this memorable trial began. The House of Commons had +settled that one hundred and thirty-five persons should form the Court, +and these were taken from the House itself, from among the officers of +the army, and from among the lawyers and citizens. John Bradshaw, +serjeant-at-law, was appointed president. The place was Westminster +Hall. At the upper end, in a red velvet chair, sat the president, with +his hat (lined with plates of iron for his protection) on his head. The +rest of the Court sat on side benches, also wearing their hats. The +King’s seat was covered with velvet, like that of the president, and +was opposite to it. He was brought from St. James’s to Whitehall, and +from Whitehall he came by water to his trial. + +When he came in, he looked round very steadily on the Court, and on the +great number of spectators, and then sat down: presently he got up and +looked round again. On the indictment ‘against Charles Stuart, for high +treason,’ being read, he smiled several times, and he denied the +authority of the Court, saying that there could be no parliament +without a House of Lords, and that he saw no House of Lords there. +Also, that the King ought to be there, and that he saw no King in the +King’s right place. Bradshaw replied, that the Court was satisfied with +its authority, and that its authority was God’s authority and the +kingdom’s. He then adjourned the Court to the following Monday. On that +day, the trial was resumed, and went on all the week. When the Saturday +came, as the King passed forward to his place in the Hall, some +soldiers and others cried for ‘justice!’ and execution on him. That +day, too, Bradshaw, like an angry Sultan, wore a red robe, instead of +the black robe he had worn before. The King was sentenced to death that +day. As he went out, one solitary soldier said, ‘God bless you, Sir!’ +For this, his officer struck him. The King said he thought the +punishment exceeded the offence. The silver head of his walking-stick +had fallen off while he leaned upon it, at one time of the trial. The +accident seemed to disturb him, as if he thought it ominous of the +falling of his own head; and he admitted as much, now it was all over. + +Being taken back to Whitehall, he sent to the House of Commons, saying +that as the time of his execution might be nigh, he wished he might be +allowed to see his darling children. It was granted. On the Monday he +was taken back to St. James’s; and his two children then in England, +the Princess Elizabeth thirteen years old, and the Duke Of Gloucester +nine years old, were brought to take leave of him, from Sion House, +near Brentford. It was a sad and touching scene, when he kissed and +fondled those poor children, and made a little present of two diamond +seals to the Princess, and gave them tender messages to their mother +(who little deserved them, for she had a lover of her own whom she +married soon afterwards), and told them that he died ‘for the laws and +liberties of the land.’ I am bound to say that I don’t think he did, +but I dare say he believed so. + +There were ambassadors from Holland that day, to intercede for the +unhappy King, whom you and I both wish the Parliament had spared; but +they got no answer. The Scottish Commissioners interceded too; so did +the Prince of Wales, by a letter in which he offered as the next heir +to the throne, to accept any conditions from the Parliament; so did the +Queen, by letter likewise. + +Notwithstanding all, the warrant for the execution was this day signed. +There is a story that as Oliver Cromwell went to the table with the pen +in his hand to put his signature to it, he drew his pen across the face +of one of the commissioners, who was standing near, and marked it with +ink. That commissioner had not signed his own name yet, and the story +adds that when he came to do it he marked Cromwell’s face with ink in +the same way. + +The King slept well, untroubled by the knowledge that it was his last +night on earth, and rose on the thirtieth of January, two hours before +day, and dressed himself carefully. He put on two shirts lest he should +tremble with the cold, and had his hair very carefully combed. The +warrant had been directed to three officers of the army, Colonel +Hacker, Colonel Hunks, and Colonel Phayer. At ten o’clock, the first of +these came to the door and said it was time to go to Whitehall. The +King, who had always been a quick walker, walked at his usual speed +through the Park, and called out to the guard, with his accustomed +voice of command, ‘March on apace!’ When he came to Whitehall, he was +taken to his own bedroom, where a breakfast was set forth. As he had +taken the Sacrament, he would eat nothing more; but, at about the time +when the church bells struck twelve at noon (for he had to wait, +through the scaffold not being ready), he took the advice of the good +Bishop Juxon who was with him, and ate a little bread and drank a glass +of claret. Soon after he had taken this refreshment, Colonel Hacker +came to the chamber with the warrant in his hand, and called for +Charles Stuart. + +And then, through the long gallery of Whitehall Palace, which he had +often seen light and gay and merry and crowded, in very different +times, the fallen King passed along, until he came to the centre window +of the Banqueting House, through which he emerged upon the scaffold, +which was hung with black. He looked at the two executioners, who were +dressed in black and masked; he looked at the troops of soldiers on +horseback and on foot, and all looked up at him in silence; he looked +at the vast array of spectators, filling up the view beyond, and +turning all their faces upon him; he looked at his old Palace of St. +James’s; and he looked at the block. He seemed a little troubled to +find that it was so low, and asked, ‘if there were no place higher?’ +Then, to those upon the scaffold, he said, ‘that it was the Parliament +who had begun the war, and not he; but he hoped they might be guiltless +too, as ill instruments had gone between them. In one respect,’ he +said, ‘he suffered justly; and that was because he had permitted an +unjust sentence to be executed on another.’ In this he referred to the +Earl of Strafford. + +He was not at all afraid to die; but he was anxious to die easily. When +some one touched the axe while he was speaking, he broke off and called +out, ‘Take heed of the axe! take heed of the axe!’ He also said to +Colonel Hacker, ‘Take care that they do not put me to pain.’ He told +the executioner, ‘I shall say but very short prayers, and then thrust +out my hands’—as the sign to strike. + +He put his hair up, under a white satin cap which the bishop had +carried, and said, ‘I have a good cause and a gracious God on my side.’ +The bishop told him that he had but one stage more to travel in this +weary world, and that, though it was a turbulent and troublesome stage, +it was a short one, and would carry him a great way—all the way from +earth to Heaven. The King’s last word, as he gave his cloak and the +George—the decoration from his breast—to the bishop, was, ‘Remember!’ +He then kneeled down, laid his head on the block, spread out his hands, +and was instantly killed. One universal groan broke from the crowd; and +the soldiers, who had sat on their horses and stood in their ranks +immovable as statues, were of a sudden all in motion, clearing the +streets. + +Thus, in the forty-ninth year of his age, falling at the same time of +his career as Strafford had fallen in his, perished Charles the First. +With all my sorrow for him, I cannot agree with him that he died ‘the +martyr of the people;’ for the people had been martyrs to him, and to +his ideas of a King’s rights, long before. Indeed, I am afraid that he +was but a bad judge of martyrs; for he had called that infamous Duke of +Buckingham ‘the Martyr of his Sovereign.’ + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV +ENGLAND UNDER OLIVER CROMWELL + + +Before sunset on the memorable day on which King Charles the First was +executed, the House of Commons passed an act declaring it treason in +any one to proclaim the Prince of Wales—or anybody else—King of +England. Soon afterwards, it declared that the House of Lords was +useless and dangerous, and ought to be abolished; and directed that the +late King’s statue should be taken down from the Royal Exchange in the +City and other public places. Having laid hold of some famous Royalists +who had escaped from prison, and having beheaded the Duke Of Hamilton, +Lord Holland, and Lord Capel, in Palace Yard (all of whom died very +courageously), they then appointed a Council of State to govern the +country. It consisted of forty-one members, of whom five were peers. +Bradshaw was made president. The House of Commons also re-admitted +members who had opposed the King’s death, and made up its numbers to +about a hundred and fifty. + +But, it still had an army of more than forty thousand men to deal with, +and a very hard task it was to manage them. Before the King’s +execution, the army had appointed some of its officers to remonstrate +between them and the Parliament; and now the common soldiers began to +take that office upon themselves. The regiments under orders for +Ireland mutinied; one troop of horse in the city of London seized their +own flag, and refused to obey orders. For this, the ringleader was +shot: which did not mend the matter, for, both his comrades and the +people made a public funeral for him, and accompanied the body to the +grave with sound of trumpets and with a gloomy procession of persons +carrying bundles of rosemary steeped in blood. Oliver was the only man +to deal with such difficulties as these, and he soon cut them short by +bursting at midnight into the town of Burford, near Salisbury, where +the mutineers were sheltered, taking four hundred of them prisoners, +and shooting a number of them by sentence of court-martial. The +soldiers soon found, as all men did, that Oliver was not a man to be +trifled with. And there was an end of the mutiny. + +The Scottish Parliament did not know Oliver yet; so, on hearing of the +King’s execution, it proclaimed the Prince of Wales King Charles the +Second, on condition of his respecting the Solemn League and Covenant. +Charles was abroad at that time, and so was Montrose, from whose help +he had hopes enough to keep him holding on and off with commissioners +from Scotland, just as his father might have done. These hopes were +soon at an end; for, Montrose, having raised a few hundred exiles in +Germany, and landed with them in Scotland, found that the people there, +instead of joining him, deserted the country at his approach. He was +soon taken prisoner and carried to Edinburgh. There he was received +with every possible insult, and carried to prison in a cart, his +officers going two and two before him. He was sentenced by the +Parliament to be hanged on a gallows thirty feet high, to have his head +set on a spike in Edinburgh, and his limbs distributed in other places, +according to the old barbarous manner. He said he had always acted +under the Royal orders, and only wished he had limbs enough to be +distributed through Christendom, that it might be the more widely known +how loyal he had been. He went to the scaffold in a bright and +brilliant dress, and made a bold end at thirty-eight years of age. The +breath was scarcely out of his body when Charles abandoned his memory, +and denied that he had ever given him orders to rise in his behalf. O +the family failing was strong in that Charles then! + +Oliver had been appointed by the Parliament to command the army in +Ireland, where he took a terrible vengeance for the sanguinary +rebellion, and made tremendous havoc, particularly in the siege of +Drogheda, where no quarter was given, and where he found at least a +thousand of the inhabitants shut up together in the great church: every +one of whom was killed by his soldiers, usually known as Oliver’s +Ironsides. There were numbers of friars and priests among them, and +Oliver gruffly wrote home in his despatch that these were ‘knocked on +the head’ like the rest. + +But, Charles having got over to Scotland where the men of the Solemn +League and Covenant led him a prodigiously dull life and made him very +weary with long sermons and grim Sundays, the Parliament called the +redoubtable Oliver home to knock the Scottish men on the head for +setting up that Prince. Oliver left his son-in-law, Ireton, as general +in Ireland in his stead (he died there afterwards), and he imitated the +example of his father-in-law with such good will that he brought the +country to subjection, and laid it at the feet of the Parliament. In +the end, they passed an act for the settlement of Ireland, generally +pardoning all the common people, but exempting from this grace such of +the wealthier sort as had been concerned in the rebellion, or in any +killing of Protestants, or who refused to lay down their arms. Great +numbers of Irish were got out of the country to serve under Catholic +powers abroad, and a quantity of land was declared to have been +forfeited by past offences, and was given to people who had lent money +to the Parliament early in the war. These were sweeping measures; but, +if Oliver Cromwell had had his own way fully, and had stayed in +Ireland, he would have done more yet. + +However, as I have said, the Parliament wanted Oliver for Scotland; so, +home Oliver came, and was made Commander of all the Forces of the +Commonwealth of England, and in three days away he went with sixteen +thousand soldiers to fight the Scottish men. Now, the Scottish men, +being then—as you will generally find them now—mighty cautious, +reflected that the troops they had were not used to war like the +Ironsides, and would be beaten in an open fight. Therefore they said, +‘If we live quiet in our trenches in Edinburgh here, and if all the +farmers come into the town and desert the country, the Ironsides will +be driven out by iron hunger and be forced to go away.’ This was, no +doubt, the wisest plan; but as the Scottish clergy _would_ interfere +with what they knew nothing about, and would perpetually preach long +sermons exhorting the soldiers to come out and fight, the soldiers got +it in their heads that they absolutely must come out and fight. +Accordingly, in an evil hour for themselves, they came out of their +safe position. Oliver fell upon them instantly, and killed three +thousand, and took ten thousand prisoners. + +To gratify the Scottish Parliament, and preserve their favour, Charles +had signed a declaration they laid before him, reproaching the memory +of his father and mother, and representing himself as a most religious +Prince, to whom the Solemn League and Covenant was as dear as life. He +meant no sort of truth in this, and soon afterwards galloped away on +horseback to join some tiresome Highland friends, who were always +flourishing dirks and broadswords. He was overtaken and induced to +return; but this attempt, which was called ‘The Start,’ did him just so +much service, that they did not preach quite such long sermons at him +afterwards as they had done before. + +On the first of January, one thousand six hundred and fifty-one, the +Scottish people crowned him at Scone. He immediately took the chief +command of an army of twenty thousand men, and marched to Stirling. His +hopes were heightened, I dare say, by the redoubtable Oliver being ill +of an ague; but Oliver scrambled out of bed in no time, and went to +work with such energy that he got behind the Royalist army and cut it +off from all communication with Scotland. There was nothing for it +then, but to go on to England; so it went on as far as Worcester, where +the mayor and some of the gentry proclaimed King Charles the Second +straightway. His proclamation, however, was of little use to him, for +very few Royalists appeared; and, on the very same day, two people were +publicly beheaded on Tower Hill for espousing his cause. Up came Oliver +to Worcester too, at double quick speed, and he and his Ironsides so +laid about them in the great battle which was fought there, that they +completely beat the Scottish men, and destroyed the Royalist army; +though the Scottish men fought so gallantly that it took five hours to +do. + +The escape of Charles after this battle of Worcester did him good +service long afterwards, for it induced many of the generous English +people to take a romantic interest in him, and to think much better of +him than he ever deserved. He fled in the night, with not more than +sixty followers, to the house of a Catholic lady in Staffordshire. +There, for his greater safety, the whole sixty left him. He cropped his +hair, stained his face and hands brown as if they were sunburnt, put on +the clothes of a labouring countryman, and went out in the morning with +his axe in his hand, accompanied by four wood-cutters who were +brothers, and another man who was their brother-in-law. These good +fellows made a bed for him under a tree, as the weather was very bad; +and the wife of one of them brought him food to eat; and the old mother +of the four brothers came and fell down on her knees before him in the +wood, and thanked God that her sons were engaged in saving his life. At +night, he came out of the forest and went on to another house which was +near the river Severn, with the intention of passing into Wales; but +the place swarmed with soldiers, and the bridges were guarded, and all +the boats were made fast. So, after lying in a hayloft covered over +with hay, for some time, he came out of his place, attended by Colonel +Careless, a Catholic gentleman who had met him there, and with whom he +lay hid, all next day, up in the shady branches of a fine old oak. It +was lucky for the King that it was September-time, and that the leaves +had not begun to fall, since he and the Colonel, perched up in this +tree, could catch glimpses of the soldiers riding about below, and +could hear the crash in the wood as they went about beating the boughs. + +After this, he walked and walked until his feet were all blistered; +and, having been concealed all one day in a house which was searched by +the troopers while he was there, went with Lord Wilmot, another of his +good friends, to a place called Bentley, where one Miss Lane, a +Protestant lady, had obtained a pass to be allowed to ride through the +guards to see a relation of hers near Bristol. Disguised as a servant, +he rode in the saddle before this young lady to the house of Sir John +Winter, while Lord Wilmot rode there boldly, like a plain country +gentleman, with dogs at his heels. It happened that Sir John Winter’s +butler had been servant in Richmond Palace, and knew Charles the moment +he set eyes upon him; but, the butler was faithful and kept the secret. +As no ship could be found to carry him abroad, it was planned that he +should go—still travelling with Miss Lane as her servant—to another +house, at Trent near Sherborne in Dorsetshire; and then Miss Lane and +her cousin, Mr. Lascelles, who had gone on horseback beside her all the +way, went home. I hope Miss Lane was going to marry that cousin, for I +am sure she must have been a brave, kind girl. If I had been that +cousin, I should certainly have loved Miss Lane. + +When Charles, lonely for the loss of Miss Lane, was safe at Trent, a +ship was hired at Lyme, the master of which engaged to take two +gentlemen to France. In the evening of the same day, the King—now +riding as servant before another young lady—set off for a public-house +at a place called Charmouth, where the captain of the vessel was to +take him on board. But, the captain’s wife, being afraid of her husband +getting into trouble, locked him up and would not let him sail. Then +they went away to Bridport; and, coming to the inn there, found the +stable-yard full of soldiers who were on the look-out for Charles, and +who talked about him while they drank. He had such presence of mind, +that he led the horses of his party through the yard as any other +servant might have done, and said, ‘Come out of the way, you soldiers; +let us have room to pass here!’ As he went along, he met a half-tipsy +ostler, who rubbed his eyes and said to him, ‘Why, I was formerly +servant to Mr. Potter at Exeter, and surely I have sometimes seen you +there, young man?’ He certainly had, for Charles had lodged there. His +ready answer was, ‘Ah, I did live with him once; but I have no time to +talk now. We’ll have a pot of beer together when I come back.’ + +From this dangerous place he returned to Trent, and lay there concealed +several days. Then he escaped to Heale, near Salisbury; where, in the +house of a widow lady, he was hidden five days, until the master of a +collier lying off Shoreham in Sussex, undertook to convey a ‘gentleman’ +to France. On the night of the fifteenth of October, accompanied by two +colonels and a merchant, the King rode to Brighton, then a little +fishing village, to give the captain of the ship a supper before going +on board; but, so many people knew him, that this captain knew him too, +and not only he, but the landlord and landlady also. Before he went +away, the landlord came behind his chair, kissed his hand, and said he +hoped to live to be a lord and to see his wife a lady; at which Charles +laughed. They had had a good supper by this time, and plenty of smoking +and drinking, at which the King was a first-rate hand; so, the captain +assured him that he would stand by him, and he did. It was agreed that +the captain should pretend to sail to Deal, and that Charles should +address the sailors and say he was a gentleman in debt who was running +away from his creditors, and that he hoped they would join him in +persuading the captain to put him ashore in France. As the King acted +his part very well indeed, and gave the sailors twenty shillings to +drink, they begged the captain to do what such a worthy gentleman +asked. He pretended to yield to their entreaties, and the King got safe +to Normandy. + +Ireland being now subdued, and Scotland kept quiet by plenty of forts +and soldiers put there by Oliver, the Parliament would have gone on +quietly enough, as far as fighting with any foreign enemy went, but for +getting into trouble with the Dutch, who in the spring of the year one +thousand six hundred and fifty-one sent a fleet into the Downs under +their Admiral Van Tromp, to call upon the bold English Admiral Blake +(who was there with half as many ships as the Dutch) to strike his +flag. Blake fired a raging broadside instead, and beat off Van Tromp; +who, in the autumn, came back again with seventy ships, and challenged +the bold Blake—who still was only half as strong—to fight him. Blake +fought him all day; but, finding that the Dutch were too many for him, +got quietly off at night. What does Van Tromp upon this, but goes +cruising and boasting about the Channel, between the North Foreland and +the Isle of Wight, with a great Dutch broom tied to his masthead, as a +sign that he could and would sweep the English of the sea! Within three +months, Blake lowered his tone though, and his broom too; for, he and +two other bold commanders, Dean and Monk, fought him three whole days, +took twenty-three of his ships, shivered his broom to pieces, and +settled his business. + +Things were no sooner quiet again, than the army began to complain to +the Parliament that they were not governing the nation properly, and to +hint that they thought they could do it better themselves. Oliver, who +had now made up his mind to be the head of the state, or nothing at +all, supported them in this, and called a meeting of officers and his +own Parliamentary friends, at his lodgings in Whitehall, to consider +the best way of getting rid of the Parliament. It had now lasted just +as many years as the King’s unbridled power had lasted, before it came +into existence. The end of the deliberation was, that Oliver went down +to the House in his usual plain black dress, with his usual grey +worsted stockings, but with an unusual party of soldiers behind him. +These last he left in the lobby, and then went in and sat down. +Presently he got up, made the Parliament a speech, told them that the +Lord had done with them, stamped his foot and said, ‘You are no +Parliament. Bring them in! Bring them in!’ At this signal the door flew +open, and the soldiers appeared. ‘This is not honest,’ said Sir Harry +Vane, one of the members. ‘Sir Harry Vane!’ cried Cromwell; ‘O, Sir +Harry Vane! The Lord deliver me from Sir Harry Vane!’ Then he pointed +out members one by one, and said this man was a drunkard, and that man +a dissipated fellow, and that man a liar, and so on. Then he caused the +Speaker to be walked out of his chair, told the guard to clear the +House, called the mace upon the table—which is a sign that the House is +sitting—‘a fool’s bauble,’ and said, ‘here, carry it away!’ Being +obeyed in all these orders, he quietly locked the door, put the key in +his pocket, walked back to Whitehall again, and told his friends, who +were still assembled there, what he had done. + +They formed a new Council of State after this extraordinary proceeding, +and got a new Parliament together in their own way: which Oliver +himself opened in a sort of sermon, and which he said was the beginning +of a perfect heaven upon earth. In this Parliament there sat a +well-known leather-seller, who had taken the singular name of Praise +God Barebones, and from whom it was called, for a joke, Barebones’s +Parliament, though its general name was the Little Parliament. As it +soon appeared that it was not going to put Oliver in the first place, +it turned out to be not at all like the beginning of heaven upon earth, +and Oliver said it really was not to be borne with. So he cleared off +that Parliament in much the same way as he had disposed of the other; +and then the council of officers decided that he must be made the +supreme authority of the kingdom, under the title of the Lord Protector +of the Commonwealth. + +So, on the sixteenth of December, one thousand six hundred and +fifty-three, a great procession was formed at Oliver’s door, and he +came out in a black velvet suit and a big pair of boots, and got into +his coach and went down to Westminster, attended by the judges, and the +lord mayor, and the aldermen, and all the other great and wonderful +personages of the country. There, in the Court of Chancery, he publicly +accepted the office of Lord Protector. Then he was sworn, and the City +sword was handed to him, and the seal was handed to him, and all the +other things were handed to him which are usually handed to Kings and +Queens on state occasions. When Oliver had handed them all back, he was +quite made and completely finished off as Lord Protector; and several +of the Ironsides preached about it at great length, all the evening. + +SECOND PART + +Oliver Cromwell—whom the people long called Old Noll—in accepting the +office of Protector, had bound himself by a certain paper which was +handed to him, called ‘the Instrument,’ to summon a Parliament, +consisting of between four and five hundred members, in the election of +which neither the Royalists nor the Catholics were to have any share. +He had also pledged himself that this Parliament should not be +dissolved without its own consent until it had sat five months. + +When this Parliament met, Oliver made a speech to them of three hours +long, very wisely advising them what to do for the credit and happiness +of the country. To keep down the more violent members, he required them +to sign a recognition of what they were forbidden by ‘the Instrument’ +to do; which was, chiefly, to take the power from one single person at +the head of the state or to command the army. Then he dismissed them to +go to work. With his usual vigour and resolution he went to work +himself with some frantic preachers—who were rather overdoing their +sermons in calling him a villain and a tyrant—by shutting up their +chapels, and sending a few of them off to prison. + +There was not at that time, in England or anywhere else, a man so able +to govern the country as Oliver Cromwell. Although he ruled with a +strong hand, and levied a very heavy tax on the Royalists (but not +until they had plotted against his life), he ruled wisely, and as the +times required. He caused England to be so respected abroad, that I +wish some lords and gentlemen who have governed it under kings and +queens in later days would have taken a leaf out of Oliver Cromwell’s +book. He sent bold Admiral Blake to the Mediterranean Sea, to make the +Duke of Tuscany pay sixty thousand pounds for injuries he had done to +British subjects, and spoliation he had committed on English merchants. +He further despatched him and his fleet to Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, +to have every English ship and every English man delivered up to him +that had been taken by pirates in those parts. All this was gloriously +done; and it began to be thoroughly well known, all over the world, +that England was governed by a man in earnest, who would not allow the +English name to be insulted or slighted anywhere. + +These were not all his foreign triumphs. He sent a fleet to sea against +the Dutch; and the two powers, each with one hundred ships upon its +side, met in the English Channel off the North Foreland, where the +fight lasted all day long. Dean was killed in this fight; but Monk, who +commanded in the same ship with him, threw his cloak over his body, +that the sailors might not know of his death, and be disheartened. Nor +were they. The English broadsides so exceedingly astonished the Dutch +that they sheered off at last, though the redoubtable Van Tromp fired +upon them with his own guns for deserting their flag. Soon afterwards, +the two fleets engaged again, off the coast of Holland. There, the +valiant Van Tromp was shot through the heart, and the Dutch gave in, +and peace was made. + +Further than this, Oliver resolved not to bear the domineering and +bigoted conduct of Spain, which country not only claimed a right to all +the gold and silver that could be found in South America, and treated +the ships of all other countries who visited those regions, as pirates, +but put English subjects into the horrible Spanish prisons of the +Inquisition. So, Oliver told the Spanish ambassador that English ships +must be free to go wherever they would, and that English merchants must +not be thrown into those same dungeons, no, not for the pleasure of all +the priests in Spain. To this, the Spanish ambassador replied that the +gold and silver country, and the Holy Inquisition, were his King’s two +eyes, neither of which he could submit to have put out. Very well, said +Oliver, then he was afraid he (Oliver) must damage those two eyes +directly. + +So, another fleet was despatched under two commanders, Penn and +Venables, for Hispaniola; where, however, the Spaniards got the better +of the fight. Consequently, the fleet came home again, after taking +Jamaica on the way. Oliver, indignant with the two commanders who had +not done what bold Admiral Blake would have done, clapped them both +into prison, declared war against Spain, and made a treaty with France, +in virtue of which it was to shelter the King and his brother the Duke +of York no longer. Then, he sent a fleet abroad under bold Admiral +Blake, which brought the King of Portugal to his senses—just to keep +its hand in—and then engaged a Spanish fleet, sunk four great ships, +and took two more, laden with silver to the value of two millions of +pounds: which dazzling prize was brought from Portsmouth to London in +waggons, with the populace of all the towns and villages through which +the waggons passed, shouting with all their might. After this victory, +bold Admiral Blake sailed away to the port of Santa Cruz to cut off the +Spanish treasure-ships coming from Mexico. There, he found them, ten in +number, with seven others to take care of them, and a big castle, and +seven batteries, all roaring and blazing away at him with great guns. +Blake cared no more for great guns than for pop-guns—no more for their +hot iron balls than for snow-balls. He dashed into the harbour, +captured and burnt every one of the ships, and came sailing out again +triumphantly, with the victorious English flag flying at his masthead. +This was the last triumph of this great commander, who had sailed and +fought until he was quite worn out. He died, as his successful ship was +coming into Plymouth Harbour amidst the joyful acclamations of the +people, and was buried in state in Westminster Abbey. Not to lie there, +long. + +Over and above all this, Oliver found that the Vaudois, or Protestant +people of the valleys of Lucerne, were insolently treated by the +Catholic powers, and were even put to death for their religion, in an +audacious and bloody manner. Instantly, he informed those powers that +this was a thing which Protestant England would not allow; and he +speedily carried his point, through the might of his great name, and +established their right to worship God in peace after their own +harmless manner. + +Lastly, his English army won such admiration in fighting with the +French against the Spaniards, that, after they had assaulted the town +of Dunkirk together, the French King in person gave it up to the +English, that it might be a token to them of their might and valour. + +There were plots enough against Oliver among the frantic religionists +(who called themselves Fifth Monarchy Men), and among the disappointed +Republicans. He had a difficult game to play, for the Royalists were +always ready to side with either party against him. The ‘King over the +water,’ too, as Charles was called, had no scruples about plotting with +any one against his life; although there is reason to suppose that he +would willingly have married one of his daughters, if Oliver would have +had such a son-in-law. There was a certain Colonel Saxby of the army, +once a great supporter of Oliver’s but now turned against him, who was +a grievous trouble to him through all this part of his career; and who +came and went between the discontented in England and Spain, and +Charles who put himself in alliance with Spain on being thrown off by +France. This man died in prison at last; but not until there had been +very serious plots between the Royalists and Republicans, and an actual +rising of them in England, when they burst into the city of Salisbury, +on a Sunday night, seized the judges who were going to hold the assizes +there next day, and would have hanged them but for the merciful +objections of the more temperate of their number. Oliver was so +vigorous and shrewd that he soon put this revolt down, as he did most +other conspiracies; and it was well for one of its chief managers—that +same Lord Wilmot who had assisted in Charles’s flight, and was now Earl +of Rochester—that he made his escape. Oliver seemed to have eyes and +ears everywhere, and secured such sources of information as his enemies +little dreamed of. There was a chosen body of six persons, called the +Sealed Knot, who were in the closest and most secret confidence of +Charles. One of the foremost of these very men, a Sir Richard Willis, +reported to Oliver everything that passed among them, and had two +hundred a year for it. + +Miles Syndarcomb, also of the old army, was another conspirator against +the Protector. He and a man named Cecil, bribed one of his Life Guards +to let them have good notice when he was going out—intending to shoot +him from a window. But, owing either to his caution or his good +fortune, they could never get an aim at him. Disappointed in this +design, they got into the chapel in Whitehall, with a basketful of +combustibles, which were to explode by means of a slow match in six +hours; then, in the noise and confusion of the fire, they hoped to kill +Oliver. But, the Life Guardsman himself disclosed this plot; and they +were seized, and Miles died (or killed himself in prison) a little +while before he was ordered for execution. A few such plotters Oliver +caused to be beheaded, a few more to be hanged, and many more, +including those who rose in arms against him, to be sent as slaves to +the West Indies. If he were rigid, he was impartial too, in asserting +the laws of England. When a Portuguese nobleman, the brother of the +Portuguese ambassador, killed a London citizen in mistake for another +man with whom he had had a quarrel, Oliver caused him to be tried +before a jury of Englishmen and foreigners, and had him executed in +spite of the entreaties of all the ambassadors in London. + +One of Oliver’s own friends, the Duke of Oldenburgh, in sending him a +present of six fine coach-horses, was very near doing more to please +the Royalists than all the plotters put together. One day, Oliver went +with his coach, drawn by these six horses, into Hyde Park, to dine with +his secretary and some of his other gentlemen under the trees there. +After dinner, being merry, he took it into his head to put his friends +inside and to drive them home: a postillion riding one of the foremost +horses, as the custom was. On account of Oliver’s being too free with +the whip, the six fine horses went off at a gallop, the postillion got +thrown, and Oliver fell upon the coach-pole and narrowly escaped being +shot by his own pistol, which got entangled with his clothes in the +harness, and went off. He was dragged some distance by the foot, until +his foot came out of the shoe, and then he came safely to the ground +under the broad body of the coach, and was very little the worse. The +gentlemen inside were only bruised, and the discontented people of all +parties were much disappointed. + +The rest of the history of the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell is a +history of his Parliaments. His first one not pleasing him at all, he +waited until the five months were out, and then dissolved it. The next +was better suited to his views; and from that he desired to get—if he +could with safety to himself—the title of King. He had had this in his +mind some time: whether because he thought that the English people, +being more used to the title, were more likely to obey it; or whether +because he really wished to be a king himself, and to leave the +succession to that title in his family, is far from clear. He was +already as high, in England and in all the world, as he would ever be, +and I doubt if he cared for the mere name. However, a paper, called the +‘Humble Petition and Advice,’ was presented to him by the House of +Commons, praying him to take a high title and to appoint his successor. +That he would have taken the title of King there is no doubt, but for +the strong opposition of the army. This induced him to forbear, and to +assent only to the other points of the petition. Upon which occasion +there was another grand show in Westminster Hall, when the Speaker of +the House of Commons formally invested him with a purple robe lined +with ermine, and presented him with a splendidly bound Bible, and put a +golden sceptre in his hand. The next time the Parliament met, he called +a House of Lords of sixty members, as the petition gave him power to +do; but as that Parliament did not please him either, and would not +proceed to the business of the country, he jumped into a coach one +morning, took six Guards with him, and sent them to the right-about. I +wish this had been a warning to Parliaments to avoid long speeches, and +do more work. + +It was the month of August, one thousand six hundred and fifty-eight, +when Oliver Cromwell’s favourite daughter, Elizabeth Claypole (who had +lately lost her youngest son), lay very ill, and his mind was greatly +troubled, because he loved her dearly. Another of his daughters was +married to Lord Falconberg, another to the grandson of the Earl of +Warwick, and he had made his son Richard one of the Members of the +Upper House. He was very kind and loving to them all, being a good +father and a good husband; but he loved this daughter the best of the +family, and went down to Hampton Court to see her, and could hardly be +induced to stir from her sick room until she died. Although his +religion had been of a gloomy kind, his disposition had been always +cheerful. He had been fond of music in his home, and had kept open +table once a week for all officers of the army not below the rank of +captain, and had always preserved in his house a quiet, sensible +dignity. He encouraged men of genius and learning, and loved to have +them about him. Milton was one of his great friends. He was good +humoured too, with the nobility, whose dresses and manners were very +different from his; and to show them what good information he had, he +would sometimes jokingly tell them when they were his guests, where +they had last drunk the health of the ‘King over the water,’ and would +recommend them to be more private (if they could) another time. But he +had lived in busy times, had borne the weight of heavy State affairs, +and had often gone in fear of his life. He was ill of the gout and +ague; and when the death of his beloved child came upon him in +addition, he sank, never to raise his head again. He told his +physicians on the twenty-fourth of August that the Lord had assured him +that he was not to die in that illness, and that he would certainly get +better. This was only his sick fancy, for on the third of September, +which was the anniversary of the great battle of Worcester, and the day +of the year which he called his fortunate day, he died, in the sixtieth +year of his age. He had been delirious, and had lain insensible some +hours, but he had been overheard to murmur a very good prayer the day +before. The whole country lamented his death. If you want to know the +real worth of Oliver Cromwell, and his real services to his country, +you can hardly do better than compare England under him, with England +under Charles the Second. + +He had appointed his son Richard to succeed him, and after there had +been, at Somerset House in the Strand, a lying in state more splendid +than sensible—as all such vanities after death are, I think—Richard +became Lord Protector. He was an amiable country gentleman, but had +none of his father’s great genius, and was quite unfit for such a post +in such a storm of parties. Richard’s Protectorate, which only lasted a +year and a half, is a history of quarrels between the officers of the +army and the Parliament, and between the officers among themselves; and +of a growing discontent among the people, who had far too many long +sermons and far too few amusements, and wanted a change. At last, +General Monk got the army well into his own hands, and then in +pursuance of a secret plan he seems to have entertained from the time +of Oliver’s death, declared for the King’s cause. He did not do this +openly; but, in his place in the House of Commons, as one of the +members for Devonshire, strongly advocated the proposals of one Sir +John Greenville, who came to the House with a letter from Charles, +dated from Breda, and with whom he had previously been in secret +communication. There had been plots and counterplots, and a recall of +the last members of the Long Parliament, and an end of the Long +Parliament, and risings of the Royalists that were made too soon; and +most men being tired out, and there being no one to head the country +now great Oliver was dead, it was readily agreed to welcome Charles +Stuart. Some of the wiser and better members said—what was most +true—that in the letter from Breda, he gave no real promise to govern +well, and that it would be best to make him pledge himself beforehand +as to what he should be bound to do for the benefit of the kingdom. +Monk said, however, it would be all right when he came, and he could +not come too soon. + +So, everybody found out all in a moment that the country _must_ be +prosperous and happy, having another Stuart to condescend to reign over +it; and there was a prodigious firing off of guns, lighting of +bonfires, ringing of bells, and throwing up of caps. The people drank +the King’s health by thousands in the open streets, and everybody +rejoiced. Down came the Arms of the Commonwealth, up went the Royal +Arms instead, and out came the public money. Fifty thousand pounds for +the King, ten thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of York, five +thousand pounds for his brother the Duke of Gloucester. Prayers for +these gracious Stuarts were put up in all the churches; commissioners +were sent to Holland (which suddenly found out that Charles was a great +man, and that it loved him) to invite the King home; Monk and the +Kentish grandees went to Dover, to kneel down before him as he landed. +He kissed and embraced Monk, made him ride in the coach with himself +and his brothers, came on to London amid wonderful shoutings, and +passed through the army at Blackheath on the twenty-ninth of May (his +birthday), in the year one thousand six hundred and sixty. Greeted by +splendid dinners under tents, by flags and tapestry streaming from all +the houses, by delighted crowds in all the streets, by troops of +noblemen and gentlemen in rich dresses, by City companies, train-bands, +drummers, trumpeters, the great Lord Mayor, and the majestic Aldermen, +the King went on to Whitehall. On entering it, he commemorated his +Restoration with the joke that it really would seem to have been his +own fault that he had not come long ago, since everybody told him that +he had always wished for him with all his heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV +ENGLAND UNDER CHARLES THE SECOND, CALLED THE MERRY MONARCH + + +There never were such profligate times in England as under Charles the +Second. Whenever you see his portrait, with his swarthy, ill-looking +face and great nose, you may fancy him in his Court at Whitehall, +surrounded by some of the very worst vagabonds in the kingdom (though +they were lords and ladies), drinking, gambling, indulging in vicious +conversation, and committing every kind of profligate excess. It has +been a fashion to call Charles the Second ‘The Merry Monarch.’ Let me +try to give you a general idea of some of the merry things that were +done, in the merry days when this merry gentleman sat upon his merry +throne, in merry England. + +The first merry proceeding was—of course—to declare that he was one of +the greatest, the wisest, and the noblest kings that ever shone, like +the blessed sun itself, on this benighted earth. The next merry and +pleasant piece of business was, for the Parliament, in the humblest +manner, to give him one million two hundred thousand pounds a year, and +to settle upon him for life that old disputed tonnage and poundage +which had been so bravely fought for. Then, General Monk being made +Earl of Albemarle, and a few other Royalists similarly rewarded, the +law went to work to see what was to be done to those persons (they were +called Regicides) who had been concerned in making a martyr of the late +King. Ten of these were merrily executed; that is to say, six of the +judges, one of the council, Colonel Hacker and another officer who had +commanded the Guards, and Hugh Peters, a preacher who had preached +against the martyr with all his heart. These executions were so +extremely merry, that every horrible circumstance which Cromwell had +abandoned was revived with appalling cruelty. The hearts of the +sufferers were torn out of their living bodies; their bowels were +burned before their faces; the executioner cut jokes to the next +victim, as he rubbed his filthy hands together, that were reeking with +the blood of the last; and the heads of the dead were drawn on sledges +with the living to the place of suffering. Still, even so merry a +monarch could not force one of these dying men to say that he was sorry +for what he had done. Nay, the most memorable thing said among them +was, that if the thing were to do again they would do it. + +Sir Harry Vane, who had furnished the evidence against Strafford, and +was one of the most staunch of the Republicans, was also tried, found +guilty, and ordered for execution. When he came upon the scaffold on +Tower Hill, after conducting his own defence with great power, his +notes of what he had meant to say to the people were torn away from +him, and the drums and trumpets were ordered to sound lustily and drown +his voice; for, the people had been so much impressed by what the +Regicides had calmly said with their last breath, that it was the +custom now, to have the drums and trumpets always under the scaffold, +ready to strike up. Vane said no more than this: ‘It is a bad cause +which cannot bear the words of a dying man:’ and bravely died. + +These merry scenes were succeeded by another, perhaps even merrier. On +the anniversary of the late King’s death, the bodies of Oliver +Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw, were torn out of their graves in +Westminster Abbey, dragged to Tyburn, hanged there on a gallows all day +long, and then beheaded. Imagine the head of Oliver Cromwell set upon a +pole to be stared at by a brutal crowd, not one of whom would have +dared to look the living Oliver in the face for half a moment! Think, +after you have read this reign, what England was under Oliver Cromwell +who was torn out of his grave, and what it was under this merry monarch +who sold it, like a merry Judas, over and over again. + +Of course, the remains of Oliver’s wife and daughter were not to be +spared either, though they had been most excellent women. The base +clergy of that time gave up their bodies, which had been buried in the +Abbey, and—to the eternal disgrace of England—they were thrown into a +pit, together with the mouldering bones of Pym and of the brave and +bold old Admiral Blake. + +The clergy acted this disgraceful part because they hoped to get the +nonconformists, or dissenters, thoroughly put down in this reign, and +to have but one prayer-book and one service for all kinds of people, no +matter what their private opinions were. This was pretty well, I think, +for a Protestant Church, which had displaced the Romish Church because +people had a right to their own opinions in religious matters. However, +they carried it with a high hand, and a prayer-book was agreed upon, in +which the extremest opinions of Archbishop Laud were not forgotten. An +Act was passed, too, preventing any dissenter from holding any office +under any corporation. So, the regular clergy in their triumph were +soon as merry as the King. The army being by this time disbanded, and +the King crowned, everything was to go on easily for evermore. + +I must say a word here about the King’s family. He had not been long +upon the throne when his brother the Duke of Gloucester, and his sister +the Princess of Orange, died within a few months of each other, of +small-pox. His remaining sister, the Princess Henrietta, married the +Duke of Orleans, the brother of Louis the Fourteenth, King of France. +His brother James, Duke of York, was made High Admiral, and by-and-by +became a Catholic. He was a gloomy, sullen, bilious sort of man, with a +remarkable partiality for the ugliest women in the country. He married, +under very discreditable circumstances, Anne Hyde, the daughter of Lord +Clarendon, then the King’s principal Minister—not at all a delicate +minister either, but doing much of the dirty work of a very dirty +palace. It became important now that the King himself should be +married; and divers foreign Monarchs, not very particular about the +character of their son-in-law, proposed their daughters to him. The +King of Portugal offered his daughter, Catherine of Braganza, and fifty +thousand pounds: in addition to which, the French King, who was +favourable to that match, offered a loan of another fifty thousand. The +King of Spain, on the other hand, offered any one out of a dozen of +Princesses, and other hopes of gain. But the ready money carried the +day, and Catherine came over in state to her merry marriage. + +The whole Court was a great flaunting crowd of debauched men and +shameless women; and Catherine’s merry husband insulted and outraged +her in every possible way, until she consented to receive those +worthless creatures as her very good friends, and to degrade herself by +their companionship. A Mrs. Palmer, whom the King made Lady +Castlemaine, and afterwards Duchess of Cleveland, was one of the most +powerful of the bad women about the Court, and had great influence with +the King nearly all through his reign. Another merry lady named Moll +Davies, a dancer at the theatre, was afterwards her rival. So was Nell +Gwyn, first an orange girl and then an actress, who really had good in +her, and of whom one of the worst things I know is, that actually she +does seem to have been fond of the King. The first Duke of St. Albans +was this orange girl’s child. In like manner the son of a merry +waiting-lady, whom the King created Duchess Of Portsmouth, became the +Duke of Richmond. Upon the whole it is not so bad a thing to be a +commoner. + +The Merry Monarch was so exceedingly merry among these merry ladies, +and some equally merry (and equally infamous) lords and gentlemen, that +he soon got through his hundred thousand pounds, and then, by way of +raising a little pocket-money, made a merry bargain. He sold Dunkirk to +the French King for five millions of livres. When I think of the +dignity to which Oliver Cromwell raised England in the eyes of foreign +powers, and when I think of the manner in which he gained for England +this very Dunkirk, I am much inclined to consider that if the Merry +Monarch had been made to follow his father for this action, he would +have received his just deserts. + +Though he was like his father in none of that father’s greater +qualities, he was like him in being worthy of no trust. When he sent +that letter to the Parliament, from Breda, he did expressly promise +that all sincere religious opinions should be respected. Yet he was no +sooner firm in his power than he consented to one of the worst Acts of +Parliament ever passed. Under this law, every minister who should not +give his solemn assent to the Prayer-Book by a certain day, was +declared to be a minister no longer, and to be deprived of his church. +The consequence of this was that some two thousand honest men were +taken from their congregations, and reduced to dire poverty and +distress. It was followed by another outrageous law, called the +Conventicle Act, by which any person above the age of sixteen who was +present at any religious service not according to the Prayer-Book, was +to be imprisoned three months for the first offence, six for the +second, and to be transported for the third. This Act alone filled the +prisons, which were then most dreadful dungeons, to overflowing. + +The Covenanters in Scotland had already fared no better. A base +Parliament, usually known as the Drunken Parliament, in consequence of +its principal members being seldom sober, had been got together to make +laws against the Covenanters, and to force all men to be of one mind in +religious matters. The Marquis of Argyle, relying on the King’s honour, +had given himself up to him; but, he was wealthy, and his enemies +wanted his wealth. He was tried for treason, on the evidence of some +private letters in which he had expressed opinions—as well he +might—more favourable to the government of the late Lord Protector than +of the present merry and religious King. He was executed, as were two +men of mark among the Covenanters; and Sharp, a traitor who had once +been the friend of the Presbyterians and betrayed them, was made +Archbishop of St. Andrew’s, to teach the Scotch how to like bishops. + +Things being in this merry state at home, the Merry Monarch undertook a +war with the Dutch; principally because they interfered with an African +company, established with the two objects of buying gold-dust and +slaves, of which the Duke of York was a leading member. After some +preliminary hostilities, the said Duke sailed to the coast of Holland +with a fleet of ninety-eight vessels of war, and four fire-ships. This +engaged with the Dutch fleet, of no fewer than one hundred and thirteen +ships. In the great battle between the two forces, the Dutch lost +eighteen ships, four admirals, and seven thousand men. But, the English +on shore were in no mood of exultation when they heard the news. + +For, this was the year and the time of the Great Plague in London. +During the winter of one thousand six hundred and sixty-four it had +been whispered about, that some few people had died here and there of +the disease called the Plague, in some of the unwholesome suburbs +around London. News was not published at that time as it is now, and +some people believed these rumours, and some disbelieved them, and they +were soon forgotten. But, in the month of May, one thousand six hundred +and sixty-five, it began to be said all over the town that the disease +had burst out with great violence in St. Giles’s, and that the people +were dying in great numbers. This soon turned out to be awfully true. +The roads out of London were choked up by people endeavouring to escape +from the infected city, and large sums were paid for any kind of +conveyance. The disease soon spread so fast, that it was necessary to +shut up the houses in which sick people were, and to cut them off from +communication with the living. Every one of these houses was marked on +the outside of the door with a red cross, and the words, Lord, have +mercy upon us! The streets were all deserted, grass grew in the public +ways, and there was a dreadful silence in the air. When night came on, +dismal rumblings used to be heard, and these were the wheels of the +death-carts, attended by men with veiled faces and holding cloths to +their mouths, who rang doleful bells and cried in a loud and solemn +voice, ‘Bring out your dead!’ The corpses put into these carts were +buried by torchlight in great pits; no service being performed over +them; all men being afraid to stay for a moment on the brink of the +ghastly graves. In the general fear, children ran away from their +parents, and parents from their children. Some who were taken ill, died +alone, and without any help. Some were stabbed or strangled by hired +nurses who robbed them of all their money, and stole the very beds on +which they lay. Some went mad, dropped from the windows, ran through +the streets, and in their pain and frenzy flung themselves into the +river. + +These were not all the horrors of the time. The wicked and dissolute, +in wild desperation, sat in the taverns singing roaring songs, and were +stricken as they drank, and went out and died. The fearful and +superstitious persuaded themselves that they saw supernatural +sights—burning swords in the sky, gigantic arms and darts. Others +pretended that at nights vast crowds of ghosts walked round and round +the dismal pits. One madman, naked, and carrying a brazier full of +burning coals upon his head, stalked through the streets, crying out +that he was a Prophet, commissioned to denounce the vengeance of the +Lord on wicked London. Another always went to and fro, exclaiming, ‘Yet +forty days, and London shall be destroyed!’ A third awoke the echoes in +the dismal streets, by night and by day, and made the blood of the sick +run cold, by calling out incessantly, in a deep hoarse voice, ‘O, the +great and dreadful God!’ + +Through the months of July and August and September, the Great Plague +raged more and more. Great fires were lighted in the streets, in the +hope of stopping the infection; but there was a plague of rain too, and +it beat the fires out. At last, the winds which usually arise at that +time of the year which is called the equinox, when day and night are of +equal length all over the world, began to blow, and to purify the +wretched town. The deaths began to decrease, the red crosses slowly to +disappear, the fugitives to return, the shops to open, pale frightened +faces to be seen in the streets. The Plague had been in every part of +England, but in close and unwholesome London it had killed one hundred +thousand people. + +All this time, the Merry Monarch was as merry as ever, and as worthless +as ever. All this time, the debauched lords and gentlemen and the +shameless ladies danced and gamed and drank, and loved and hated one +another, according to their merry ways. + +So little humanity did the government learn from the late affliction, +that one of the first things the Parliament did when it met at Oxford +(being as yet afraid to come to London), was to make a law, called the +Five Mile Act, expressly directed against those poor ministers who, in +the time of the Plague, had manfully come back to comfort the unhappy +people. This infamous law, by forbidding them to teach in any school, +or to come within five miles of any city, town, or village, doomed them +to starvation and death. + +The fleet had been at sea, and healthy. The King of France was now in +alliance with the Dutch, though his navy was chiefly employed in +looking on while the English and Dutch fought. The Dutch gained one +victory; and the English gained another and a greater; and Prince +Rupert, one of the English admirals, was out in the Channel one windy +night, looking for the French Admiral, with the intention of giving him +something more to do than he had had yet, when the gale increased to a +storm, and blew him into Saint Helen’s. That night was the third of +September, one thousand six hundred and sixty-six, and that wind fanned +the Great Fire of London. + +It broke out at a baker’s shop near London Bridge, on the spot on which +the Monument now stands as a remembrance of those raging flames. It +spread and spread, and burned and burned, for three days. The nights +were lighter than the days; in the daytime there was an immense cloud +of smoke, and in the night-time there was a great tower of fire +mounting up into the sky, which lighted the whole country landscape for +ten miles round. Showers of hot ashes rose into the air and fell on +distant places; flying sparks carried the conflagration to great +distances, and kindled it in twenty new spots at a time; church +steeples fell down with tremendous crashes; houses crumbled into +cinders by the hundred and the thousand. The summer had been intensely +hot and dry, the streets were very narrow, and the houses mostly built +of wood and plaster. Nothing could stop the tremendous fire, but the +want of more houses to burn; nor did it stop until the whole way from +the Tower to Temple Bar was a desert, composed of the ashes of thirteen +thousand houses and eighty-nine churches. + +This was a terrible visitation at the time, and occasioned great loss +and suffering to the two hundred thousand burnt-out people, who were +obliged to lie in the fields under the open night sky, or in +hastily-made huts of mud and straw, while the lanes and roads were +rendered impassable by carts which had broken down as they tried to +save their goods. But the Fire was a great blessing to the City +afterwards, for it arose from its ruins very much improved—built more +regularly, more widely, more cleanly and carefully, and therefore much +more healthily. It might be far more healthy than it is, but there are +some people in it still—even now, at this time, nearly two hundred +years later—so selfish, so pig-headed, and so ignorant, that I doubt if +even another Great Fire would warm them up to do their duty. + +The Catholics were accused of having wilfully set London in flames; one +poor Frenchman, who had been mad for years, even accused himself of +having with his own hand fired the first house. There is no reasonable +doubt, however, that the fire was accidental. An inscription on the +Monument long attributed it to the Catholics; but it is removed now, +and was always a malicious and stupid untruth. + +SECOND PART + +That the Merry Monarch might be very merry indeed, in the merry times +when his people were suffering under pestilence and fire, he drank and +gambled and flung away among his favourites the money which the +Parliament had voted for the war. The consequence of this was that the +stout-hearted English sailors were merrily starving of want, and dying +in the streets; while the Dutch, under their admirals De Witt and De +Ruyter, came into the River Thames, and up the River Medway as far as +Upnor, burned the guard-ships, silenced the weak batteries, and did +what they would to the English coast for six whole weeks. Most of the +English ships that could have prevented them had neither powder nor +shot on board; in this merry reign, public officers made themselves as +merry as the King did with the public money; and when it was entrusted +to them to spend in national defences or preparations, they put it into +their own pockets with the merriest grace in the world. + +Lord Clarendon had, by this time, run as long a course as is usually +allotted to the unscrupulous ministers of bad kings. He was impeached +by his political opponents, but unsuccessfully. The King then commanded +him to withdraw from England and retire to France, which he did, after +defending himself in writing. He was no great loss at home, and died +abroad some seven years afterwards. + +There then came into power a ministry called the Cabal Ministry, +because it was composed of Lord Clifford, the Earl of Arlington, the +Duke of Buckingham (a great rascal, and the King’s most powerful +favourite), Lord Ashley, and the Duke of Lauderdale, c. a. b. a. l. As +the French were making conquests in Flanders, the first Cabal +proceeding was to make a treaty with the Dutch, for uniting with Spain +to oppose the French. It was no sooner made than the Merry Monarch, who +always wanted to get money without being accountable to a Parliament +for his expenditure, apologised to the King of France for having had +anything to do with it, and concluded a secret treaty with him, making +himself his infamous pensioner to the amount of two millions of livres +down, and three millions more a year; and engaging to desert that very +Spain, to make war against those very Dutch, and to declare himself a +Catholic when a convenient time should arrive. This religious king had +lately been crying to his Catholic brother on the subject of his strong +desire to be a Catholic; and now he merrily concluded this treasonable +conspiracy against the country he governed, by undertaking to become +one as soon as he safely could. For all of which, though he had had ten +merry heads instead of one, he richly deserved to lose them by the +headsman’s axe. + +As his one merry head might have been far from safe, if these things +had been known, they were kept very quiet, and war was declared by +France and England against the Dutch. But, a very uncommon man, +afterwards most important to English history and to the religion and +liberty of this land, arose among them, and for many long years +defeated the whole projects of France. This was William of Nassau, +Prince of Orange, son of the last Prince of Orange of the same name, +who married the daughter of Charles the First of England. He was a +young man at this time, only just of age; but he was brave, cool, +intrepid, and wise. His father had been so detested that, upon his +death, the Dutch had abolished the authority to which this son would +have otherwise succeeded (Stadtholder it was called), and placed the +chief power in the hands of John de Witt, who educated this young +prince. Now, the Prince became very popular, and John de Witt’s brother +Cornelius was sentenced to banishment on a false accusation of +conspiring to kill him. John went to the prison where he was, to take +him away to exile, in his coach; and a great mob who collected on the +occasion, then and there cruelly murdered both the brothers. This left +the government in the hands of the Prince, who was really the choice of +the nation; and from this time he exercised it with the greatest +vigour, against the whole power of France, under its famous generals +Condé and Turenne, and in support of the Protestant religion. It was +full seven years before this war ended in a treaty of peace made at +Nimeguen, and its details would occupy a very considerable space. It is +enough to say that William of Orange established a famous character +with the whole world; and that the Merry Monarch, adding to and +improving on his former baseness, bound himself to do everything the +King of France liked, and nothing the King of France did not like, for +a pension of one hundred thousand pounds a year, which was afterwards +doubled. Besides this, the King of France, by means of his corrupt +ambassador—who wrote accounts of his proceedings in England, which are +not always to be believed, I think—bought our English members of +Parliament, as he wanted them. So, in point of fact, during a +considerable portion of this merry reign, the King of France was the +real King of this country. + +But there was a better time to come, and it was to come (though his +royal uncle little thought so) through that very William, Prince of +Orange. He came over to England, saw Mary, the elder daughter of the +Duke of York, and married her. We shall see by-and-by what came of that +marriage, and why it is never to be forgotten. + +This daughter was a Protestant, but her mother died a Catholic. She and +her sister Anne, also a Protestant, were the only survivors of eight +children. Anne afterwards married George, Prince of Denmark, brother to +the King of that country. + +Lest you should do the Merry Monarch the injustice of supposing that he +was even good humoured (except when he had everything his own way), or +that he was high spirited and honourable, I will mention here what was +done to a member of the House of Commons, Sir John Coventry. He made a +remark in a debate about taxing the theatres, which gave the King +offence. The King agreed with his illegitimate son, who had been born +abroad, and whom he had made Duke of Monmouth, to take the following +merry vengeance. To waylay him at night, fifteen armed men to one, and +to slit his nose with a penknife. Like master, like man. The King’s +favourite, the Duke of Buckingham, was strongly suspected of setting on +an assassin to murder the Duke of Ormond as he was returning home from +a dinner; and that Duke’s spirited son, Lord Ossory, was so persuaded +of his guilt, that he said to him at Court, even as he stood beside the +King, ‘My lord, I know very well that you are at the bottom of this +late attempt upon my father. But I give you warning, if he ever come to +a violent end, his blood shall be upon you, and wherever I meet you I +will pistol you! I will do so, though I find you standing behind the +King’s chair; and I tell you this in his Majesty’s presence, that you +may be quite sure of my doing what I threaten.’ Those were merry times +indeed. + +There was a fellow named Blood, who was seized for making, with two +companions, an audacious attempt to steal the crown, the globe, and +sceptre, from the place where the jewels were kept in the Tower. This +robber, who was a swaggering ruffian, being taken, declared that he was +the man who had endeavoured to kill the Duke of Ormond, and that he had +meant to kill the King too, but was overawed by the majesty of his +appearance, when he might otherwise have done it, as he was bathing at +Battersea. The King being but an ill-looking fellow, I don’t believe a +word of this. Whether he was flattered, or whether he knew that +Buckingham had really set Blood on to murder the Duke, is uncertain. +But it is quite certain that he pardoned this thief, gave him an estate +of five hundred a year in Ireland (which had had the honour of giving +him birth), and presented him at Court to the debauched lords and the +shameless ladies, who made a great deal of him—as I have no doubt they +would have made of the Devil himself, if the King had introduced him. + +Infamously pensioned as he was, the King still wanted money, and +consequently was obliged to call Parliaments. In these, the great +object of the Protestants was to thwart the Catholic Duke of York, who +married a second time; his new wife being a young lady only fifteen +years old, the Catholic sister of the Duke of Modena. In this they were +seconded by the Protestant Dissenters, though to their own +disadvantage: since, to exclude Catholics from power, they were even +willing to exclude themselves. The King’s object was to pretend to be a +Protestant, while he was really a Catholic; to swear to the bishops +that he was devoutly attached to the English Church, while he knew he +had bargained it away to the King of France; and by cheating and +deceiving them, and all who were attached to royalty, to become +despotic and be powerful enough to confess what a rascal he was. +Meantime, the King of France, knowing his merry pensioner well, +intrigued with the King’s opponents in Parliament, as well as with the +King and his friends. + +The fears that the country had of the Catholic religion being restored, +if the Duke of York should come to the throne, and the low cunning of +the King in pretending to share their alarms, led to some very terrible +results. A certain Dr. Tonge, a dull clergyman in the City, fell into +the hands of a certain Titus Oates, a most infamous character, who +pretended to have acquired among the Jesuits abroad a knowledge of a +great plot for the murder of the King, and the re-establishment of the +Catholic religion. Titus Oates, being produced by this unlucky Dr. +Tonge and solemnly examined before the council, contradicted himself in +a thousand ways, told the most ridiculous and improbable stories, and +implicated Coleman, the Secretary of the Duchess of York. Now, although +what he charged against Coleman was not true, and although you and I +know very well that the real dangerous Catholic plot was that one with +the King of France of which the Merry Monarch was himself the head, +there happened to be found among Coleman’s papers, some letters, in +which he did praise the days of Bloody Queen Mary, and abuse the +Protestant religion. This was great good fortune for Titus, as it +seemed to confirm him; but better still was in store. Sir Edmundbury +Godfrey, the magistrate who had first examined him, being unexpectedly +found dead near Primrose Hill, was confidently believed to have been +killed by the Catholics. I think there is no doubt that he had been +melancholy mad, and that he killed himself; but he had a great +Protestant funeral, and Titus was called the Saver of the Nation, and +received a pension of twelve hundred pounds a year. + +As soon as Oates’s wickedness had met with this success, up started +another villain, named William Bedloe, who, attracted by a reward of +five hundred pounds offered for the apprehension of the murderers of +Godfrey, came forward and charged two Jesuits and some other persons +with having committed it at the Queen’s desire. Oates, going into +partnership with this new informer, had the audacity to accuse the poor +Queen herself of high treason. Then appeared a third informer, as bad +as either of the two, and accused a Catholic banker named Stayley of +having said that the King was the greatest rogue in the world (which +would not have been far from the truth), and that he would kill him +with his own hand. This banker, being at once tried and executed, +Coleman and two others were tried and executed. Then, a miserable +wretch named Prance, a Catholic silversmith, being accused by Bedloe, +was tortured into confessing that he had taken part in Godfrey’s +murder, and into accusing three other men of having committed it. Then, +five Jesuits were accused by Oates, Bedloe, and Prance together, and +were all found guilty, and executed on the same kind of contradictory +and absurd evidence. The Queen’s physician and three monks were next +put on their trial; but Oates and Bedloe had for the time gone far +enough and these four were acquitted. The public mind, however, was so +full of a Catholic plot, and so strong against the Duke of York, that +James consented to obey a written order from his brother, and to go +with his family to Brussels, provided that his rights should never be +sacrificed in his absence to the Duke of Monmouth. The House of +Commons, not satisfied with this as the King hoped, passed a bill to +exclude the Duke from ever succeeding to the throne. In return, the +King dissolved the Parliament. He had deserted his old favourite, the +Duke of Buckingham, who was now in the opposition. + +To give any sufficient idea of the miseries of Scotland in this merry +reign, would occupy a hundred pages. Because the people would not have +bishops, and were resolved to stand by their solemn League and +Covenant, such cruelties were inflicted upon them as make the blood run +cold. Ferocious dragoons galloped through the country to punish the +peasants for deserting the churches; sons were hanged up at their +fathers’ doors for refusing to disclose where their fathers were +concealed; wives were tortured to death for not betraying their +husbands; people were taken out of their fields and gardens, and shot +on the public roads without trial; lighted matches were tied to the +fingers of prisoners, and a most horrible torment called the Boot was +invented, and constantly applied, which ground and mashed the victims’ +legs with iron wedges. Witnesses were tortured as well as prisoners. +All the prisons were full; all the gibbets were heavy with bodies; +murder and plunder devastated the whole country. In spite of all, the +Covenanters were by no means to be dragged into the churches, and +persisted in worshipping God as they thought right. A body of ferocious +Highlanders, turned upon them from the mountains of their own country, +had no greater effect than the English dragoons under Grahame of +Claverhouse, the most cruel and rapacious of all their enemies, whose +name will ever be cursed through the length and breadth of Scotland. +Archbishop Sharp had ever aided and abetted all these outrages. But he +fell at last; for, when the injuries of the Scottish people were at +their height, he was seen, in his coach-and-six coming across a moor, +by a body of men, headed by one John Balfour, who were waiting for +another of their oppressors. Upon this they cried out that Heaven had +delivered him into their hands, and killed him with many wounds. If +ever a man deserved such a death, I think Archbishop Sharp did. + +It made a great noise directly, and the Merry Monarch—strongly +suspected of having goaded the Scottish people on, that he might have +an excuse for a greater army than the Parliament were willing to give +him—sent down his son, the Duke of Monmouth, as commander-in-chief, +with instructions to attack the Scottish rebels, or Whigs as they were +called, whenever he came up with them. Marching with ten thousand men +from Edinburgh, he found them, in number four or five thousand, drawn +up at Bothwell Bridge, by the Clyde. They were soon dispersed; and +Monmouth showed a more humane character towards them, than he had shown +towards that Member of Parliament whose nose he had caused to be slit +with a penknife. But the Duke of Lauderdale was their bitter foe, and +sent Claverhouse to finish them. + +As the Duke of York became more and more unpopular, the Duke of +Monmouth became more and more popular. It would have been decent in the +latter not to have voted in favour of the renewed bill for the +exclusion of James from the throne; but he did so, much to the King’s +amusement, who used to sit in the House of Lords by the fire, hearing +the debates, which he said were as good as a play. The House of Commons +passed the bill by a large majority, and it was carried up to the House +of Lords by Lord Russell, one of the best of the leaders on the +Protestant side. It was rejected there, chiefly because the bishops +helped the King to get rid of it; and the fear of Catholic plots +revived again. There had been another got up, by a fellow out of +Newgate, named Dangerfield, which is more famous than it deserves to +be, under the name of the Meal-Tub Plot. This jail-bird having been got +out of Newgate by a Mrs. Cellier, a Catholic nurse, had turned Catholic +himself, and pretended that he knew of a plot among the Presbyterians +against the King’s life. This was very pleasant to the Duke of York, +who hated the Presbyterians, who returned the compliment. He gave +Dangerfield twenty guineas, and sent him to the King his brother. But +Dangerfield, breaking down altogether in his charge, and being sent +back to Newgate, almost astonished the Duke out of his five senses by +suddenly swearing that the Catholic nurse had put that false design +into his head, and that what he really knew about, was, a Catholic plot +against the King; the evidence of which would be found in some papers, +concealed in a meal-tub in Mrs. Cellier’s house. There they were, of +course—for he had put them there himself—and so the tub gave the name +to the plot. But, the nurse was acquitted on her trial, and it came to +nothing. + +Lord Ashley, of the Cabal, was now Lord Shaftesbury, and was strong +against the succession of the Duke of York. The House of Commons, +aggravated to the utmost extent, as we may well suppose, by suspicions +of the King’s conspiracy with the King of France, made a desperate +point of the exclusion, still, and were bitter against the Catholics +generally. So unjustly bitter were they, I grieve to say, that they +impeached the venerable Lord Stafford, a Catholic nobleman seventy +years old, of a design to kill the King. The witnesses were that +atrocious Oates and two other birds of the same feather. He was found +guilty, on evidence quite as foolish as it was false, and was beheaded +on Tower Hill. The people were opposed to him when he first appeared +upon the scaffold; but, when he had addressed them and shown them how +innocent he was and how wickedly he was sent there, their better nature +was aroused, and they said, ‘We believe you, my Lord. God bless you, my +Lord!’ + +The House of Commons refused to let the King have any money until he +should consent to the Exclusion Bill; but, as he could get it and did +get it from his master the King of France, he could afford to hold them +very cheap. He called a Parliament at Oxford, to which he went down +with a great show of being armed and protected as if he were in danger +of his life, and to which the opposition members also went armed and +protected, alleging that they were in fear of the Papists, who were +numerous among the King’s guards. However, they went on with the +Exclusion Bill, and were so earnest upon it that they would have +carried it again, if the King had not popped his crown and state robes +into a sedan-chair, bundled himself into it along with them, hurried +down to the chamber where the House of Lords met, and dissolved the +Parliament. After which he scampered home, and the members of +Parliament scampered home too, as fast as their legs could carry them. + +The Duke of York, then residing in Scotland, had, under the law which +excluded Catholics from public trust, no right whatever to public +employment. Nevertheless, he was openly employed as the King’s +representative in Scotland, and there gratified his sullen and cruel +nature to his heart’s content by directing the dreadful cruelties +against the Covenanters. There were two ministers named Cargill and +Cameron who had escaped from the battle of Bothwell Bridge, and who +returned to Scotland, and raised the miserable but still brave and +unsubdued Covenanters afresh, under the name of Cameronians. As Cameron +publicly posted a declaration that the King was a forsworn tyrant, no +mercy was shown to his unhappy followers after he was slain in battle. +The Duke of York, who was particularly fond of the Boot and derived +great pleasure from having it applied, offered their lives to some of +these people, if they would cry on the scaffold ‘God save the King!’ +But their relations, friends, and countrymen, had been so barbarously +tortured and murdered in this merry reign, that they preferred to die, +and did die. The Duke then obtained his merry brother’s permission to +hold a Parliament in Scotland, which first, with most shameless deceit, +confirmed the laws for securing the Protestant religion against Popery, +and then declared that nothing must or should prevent the succession of +the Popish Duke. After this double-faced beginning, it established an +oath which no human being could understand, but which everybody was to +take, as a proof that his religion was the lawful religion. The Earl of +Argyle, taking it with the explanation that he did not consider it to +prevent him from favouring any alteration either in the Church or State +which was not inconsistent with the Protestant religion or with his +loyalty, was tried for high treason before a Scottish jury of which the +Marquis of Montrose was foreman, and was found guilty. He escaped the +scaffold, for that time, by getting away, in the disguise of a page, in +the train of his daughter, Lady Sophia Lindsay. It was absolutely +proposed, by certain members of the Scottish Council, that this lady +should be whipped through the streets of Edinburgh. But this was too +much even for the Duke, who had the manliness then (he had very little +at most times) to remark that Englishmen were not accustomed to treat +ladies in that manner. In those merry times nothing could equal the +brutal servility of the Scottish fawners, but the conduct of similar +degraded beings in England. + +After the settlement of these little affairs, the Duke returned to +England, and soon resumed his place at the Council, and his office of +High Admiral—all this by his brother’s favour, and in open defiance of +the law. It would have been no loss to the country, if he had been +drowned when his ship, in going to Scotland to fetch his family, struck +on a sand-bank, and was lost with two hundred souls on board. But he +escaped in a boat with some friends; and the sailors were so brave and +unselfish, that, when they saw him rowing away, they gave three cheers, +while they themselves were going down for ever. + +The Merry Monarch, having got rid of his Parliament, went to work to +make himself despotic, with all speed. Having had the villainy to order +the execution of Oliver Plunket, Bishop of Armagh, falsely accused of a +plot to establish Popery in that country by means of a French army—the +very thing this royal traitor was himself trying to do at home—and +having tried to ruin Lord Shaftesbury, and failed—he turned his hand to +controlling the corporations all over the country; because, if he could +only do that, he could get what juries he chose, to bring in perjured +verdicts, and could get what members he chose returned to Parliament. +These merry times produced, and made Chief Justice of the Court of +King’s Bench, a drunken ruffian of the name of Jeffreys; a red-faced, +swollen, bloated, horrible creature, with a bullying, roaring voice, +and a more savage nature perhaps than was ever lodged in any human +breast. This monster was the Merry Monarch’s especial favourite, and he +testified his admiration of him by giving him a ring from his own +finger, which the people used to call Judge Jeffreys’s Bloodstone. Him +the King employed to go about and bully the corporations, beginning +with London; or, as Jeffreys himself elegantly called it, ‘to give them +a lick with the rough side of his tongue.’ And he did it so thoroughly, +that they soon became the basest and most sycophantic bodies in the +kingdom—except the University of Oxford, which, in that respect, was +quite pre-eminent and unapproachable. + +Lord Shaftesbury (who died soon after the King’s failure against him), +Lord William Russell, the Duke of Monmouth, Lord Howard, Lord Jersey, +Algernon Sidney, John Hampden (grandson of the great Hampden), and some +others, used to hold a council together after the dissolution of the +Parliament, arranging what it might be necessary to do, if the King +carried his Popish plot to the utmost height. Lord Shaftesbury having +been much the most violent of this party, brought two violent men into +their secrets—Rumsey, who had been a soldier in the Republican army; +and West, a lawyer. These two knew an old officer of Cromwell’s, called +Rumbold, who had married a maltster’s widow, and so had come into +possession of a solitary dwelling called the Rye House, near Hoddesdon, +in Hertfordshire. Rumbold said to them what a capital place this house +of his would be from which to shoot at the King, who often passed there +going to and fro from Newmarket. They liked the idea, and entertained +it. But, one of their body gave information; and they, together with +Shepherd a wine merchant, Lord Russell, Algernon Sidney, Lord Essex, +Lord Howard, and Hampden, were all arrested. + +Lord Russell might have easily escaped, but scorned to do so, being +innocent of any wrong; Lord Essex might have easily escaped, but +scorned to do so, lest his flight should prejudice Lord Russell. But it +weighed upon his mind that he had brought into their council, Lord +Howard—who now turned a miserable traitor—against a great dislike Lord +Russell had always had of him. He could not bear the reflection, and +destroyed himself before Lord Russell was brought to trial at the Old +Bailey. + +He knew very well that he had nothing to hope, having always been +manful in the Protestant cause against the two false brothers, the one +on the throne, and the other standing next to it. He had a wife, one of +the noblest and best of women, who acted as his secretary on his trial, +who comforted him in his prison, who supped with him on the night +before he died, and whose love and virtue and devotion have made her +name imperishable. Of course, he was found guilty, and was sentenced to +be beheaded in Lincoln’s Inn-fields, not many yards from his own house. +When he had parted from his children on the evening before his death, +his wife still stayed with him until ten o’clock at night; and when +their final separation in this world was over, and he had kissed her +many times, he still sat for a long while in his prison, talking of her +goodness. Hearing the rain fall fast at that time, he calmly said, +‘Such a rain to-morrow will spoil a great show, which is a dull thing +on a rainy day.’ At midnight he went to bed, and slept till four; even +when his servant called him, he fell asleep again while his clothes +were being made ready. He rode to the scaffold in his own carriage, +attended by two famous clergymen, Tillotson and Burnet, and sang a +psalm to himself very softly, as he went along. He was as quiet and as +steady as if he had been going out for an ordinary ride. After saying +that he was surprised to see so great a crowd, he laid down his head +upon the block, as if upon the pillow of his bed, and had it struck off +at the second blow. His noble wife was busy for him even then; for that +true-hearted lady printed and widely circulated his last words, of +which he had given her a copy. They made the blood of all the honest +men in England boil. + +The University of Oxford distinguished itself on the very same day by +pretending to believe that the accusation against Lord Russell was +true, and by calling the King, in a written paper, the Breath of their +Nostrils and the Anointed of the Lord. This paper the Parliament +afterwards caused to be burned by the common hangman; which I am sorry +for, as I wish it had been framed and glazed and hung up in some public +place, as a monument of baseness for the scorn of mankind. + +Next, came the trial of Algernon Sidney, at which Jeffreys presided, +like a great crimson toad, sweltering and swelling with rage. ‘I pray +God, Mr. Sidney,’ said this Chief Justice of a merry reign, after +passing sentence, ‘to work in you a temper fit to go to the other +world, for I see you are not fit for this.’ ‘My lord,’ said the +prisoner, composedly holding out his arm, ‘feel my pulse, and see if I +be disordered. I thank Heaven I never was in better temper than I am +now.’ Algernon Sidney was executed on Tower Hill, on the seventh of +December, one thousand six hundred and eighty-three. He died a hero, +and died, in his own words, ‘For that good old cause in which he had +been engaged from his youth, and for which God had so often and so +wonderfully declared himself.’ + +The Duke of Monmouth had been making his uncle, the Duke of York, very +jealous, by going about the country in a royal sort of way, playing at +the people’s games, becoming godfather to their children, and even +touching for the King’s evil, or stroking the faces of the sick to cure +them—though, for the matter of that, I should say he did them about as +much good as any crowned king could have done. His father had got him +to write a letter, confessing his having had a part in the conspiracy, +for which Lord Russell had been beheaded; but he was ever a weak man, +and as soon as he had written it, he was ashamed of it and got it back +again. For this, he was banished to the Netherlands; but he soon +returned and had an interview with his father, unknown to his uncle. It +would seem that he was coming into the Merry Monarch’s favour again, +and that the Duke of York was sliding out of it, when Death appeared to +the merry galleries at Whitehall, and astonished the debauched lords +and gentlemen, and the shameless ladies, very considerably. + +On Monday, the second of February, one thousand six hundred and +eighty-five, the merry pensioner and servant of the King of France fell +down in a fit of apoplexy. By the Wednesday his case was hopeless, and +on the Thursday he was told so. As he made a difficulty about taking +the sacrament from the Protestant Bishop of Bath, the Duke of York got +all who were present away from the bed, and asked his brother, in a +whisper, if he should send for a Catholic priest? The King replied, +‘For God’s sake, brother, do!’ The Duke smuggled in, up the back +stairs, disguised in a wig and gown, a priest named Huddleston, who had +saved the King’s life after the battle of Worcester: telling him that +this worthy man in the wig had once saved his body, and was now come to +save his soul. + +The Merry Monarch lived through that night, and died before noon on the +next day, which was Friday, the sixth. Two of the last things he said +were of a human sort, and your remembrance will give him the full +benefit of them. When the Queen sent to say she was too unwell to +attend him and to ask his pardon, he said, ‘Alas! poor woman, _she_ beg +_my_ pardon! I beg hers with all my heart. Take back that answer to +her.’ And he also said, in reference to Nell Gwyn, ‘Do not let poor +Nelly starve.’ + +He died in the fifty-fifth year of his age, and the twenty-fifth of his +reign. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI +ENGLAND UNDER JAMES THE SECOND + + +King James the Second was a man so very disagreeable, that even the +best of historians has favoured his brother Charles, as becoming, by +comparison, quite a pleasant character. The one object of his short +reign was to re-establish the Catholic religion in England; and this he +doggedly pursued with such a stupid obstinacy, that his career very +soon came to a close. + +The first thing he did, was, to assure his council that he would make +it his endeavour to preserve the Government, both in Church and State, +as it was by law established; and that he would always take care to +defend and support the Church. Great public acclamations were raised +over this fair speech, and a great deal was said, from the pulpits and +elsewhere, about the word of a King which was never broken, by +credulous people who little supposed that he had formed a secret +council for Catholic affairs, of which a mischievous Jesuit, called +Father Petre, was one of the chief members. With tears of joy in his +eyes, he received, as the beginning of _his_ pension from the King of +France, five hundred thousand livres; yet, with a mixture of meanness +and arrogance that belonged to his contemptible character, he was +always jealous of making some show of being independent of the King of +France, while he pocketed his money. As—notwithstanding his publishing +two papers in favour of Popery (and not likely to do it much service, I +should think) written by the King, his brother, and found in his +strong-box; and his open display of himself attending mass—the +Parliament was very obsequious, and granted him a large sum of money, +he began his reign with a belief that he could do what he pleased, and +with a determination to do it. + +Before we proceed to its principal events, let us dispose of Titus +Oates. He was tried for perjury, a fortnight after the coronation, and +besides being very heavily fined, was sentenced to stand twice in the +pillory, to be whipped from Aldgate to Newgate one day, and from +Newgate to Tyburn two days afterwards, and to stand in the pillory five +times a year as long as he lived. This fearful sentence was actually +inflicted on the rascal. Being unable to stand after his first +flogging, he was dragged on a sledge from Newgate to Tyburn, and +flogged as he was drawn along. He was so strong a villain that he did +not die under the torture, but lived to be afterwards pardoned and +rewarded, though not to be ever believed in any more. Dangerfield, the +only other one of that crew left alive, was not so fortunate. He was +almost killed by a whipping from Newgate to Tyburn, and, as if that +were not punishment enough, a ferocious barrister of Gray’s Inn gave +him a poke in the eye with his cane, which caused his death; for which +the ferocious barrister was deservedly tried and executed. + +As soon as James was on the throne, Argyle and Monmouth went from +Brussels to Rotterdam, and attended a meeting of Scottish exiles held +there, to concert measures for a rising in England. It was agreed that +Argyle should effect a landing in Scotland, and Monmouth in England; +and that two Englishmen should be sent with Argyle to be in his +confidence, and two Scotchmen with the Duke of Monmouth. + +Argyle was the first to act upon this contract. But, two of his men +being taken prisoners at the Orkney Islands, the Government became +aware of his intention, and was able to act against him with such +vigour as to prevent his raising more than two or three thousand +Highlanders, although he sent a fiery cross, by trusty messengers, from +clan to clan and from glen to glen, as the custom then was when those +wild people were to be excited by their chiefs. As he was moving +towards Glasgow with his small force, he was betrayed by some of his +followers, taken, and carried, with his hands tied behind his back, to +his old prison in Edinburgh Castle. James ordered him to be executed, +on his old shamefully unjust sentence, within three days; and he +appears to have been anxious that his legs should have been pounded +with his old favourite the boot. However, the boot was not applied; he +was simply beheaded, and his head was set upon the top of Edinburgh +Jail. One of those Englishmen who had been assigned to him was that old +soldier Rumbold, the master of the Rye House. He was sorely wounded, +and within a week after Argyle had suffered with great courage, was +brought up for trial, lest he should die and disappoint the King. He, +too, was executed, after defending himself with great spirit, and +saying that he did not believe that God had made the greater part of +mankind to carry saddles on their backs and bridles in their mouths, +and to be ridden by a few, booted and spurred for the purpose—in which +I thoroughly agree with Rumbold. + +The Duke of Monmouth, partly through being detained and partly through +idling his time away, was five or six weeks behind his friend when he +landed at Lyme, in Dorset: having at his right hand an unlucky nobleman +called Lord Grey of Werk, who of himself would have ruined a far more +promising expedition. He immediately set up his standard in the +market-place, and proclaimed the King a tyrant, and a Popish usurper, +and I know not what else; charging him, not only with what he had done, +which was bad enough, but with what neither he nor anybody else had +done, such as setting fire to London, and poisoning the late King. +Raising some four thousand men by these means, he marched on to +Taunton, where there were many Protestant dissenters who were strongly +opposed to the Catholics. Here, both the rich and poor turned out to +receive him, ladies waved a welcome to him from all the windows as he +passed along the streets, flowers were strewn in his way, and every +compliment and honour that could be devised was showered upon him. +Among the rest, twenty young ladies came forward, in their best +clothes, and in their brightest beauty, and gave him a Bible ornamented +with their own fair hands, together with other presents. + +Encouraged by this homage, he proclaimed himself King, and went on to +Bridgewater. But, here the Government troops, under the Earl of +Feversham, were close at hand; and he was so dispirited at finding that +he made but few powerful friends after all, that it was a question +whether he should disband his army and endeavour to escape. It was +resolved, at the instance of that unlucky Lord Grey, to make a night +attack on the King’s army, as it lay encamped on the edge of a morass +called Sedgemoor. The horsemen were commanded by the same unlucky lord, +who was not a brave man. He gave up the battle almost at the first +obstacle—which was a deep drain; and although the poor countrymen, who +had turned out for Monmouth, fought bravely with scythes, poles, +pitchforks, and such poor weapons as they had, they were soon dispersed +by the trained soldiers, and fled in all directions. When the Duke of +Monmouth himself fled, was not known in the confusion; but the unlucky +Lord Grey was taken early next day, and then another of the party was +taken, who confessed that he had parted from the Duke only four hours +before. Strict search being made, he was found disguised as a peasant, +hidden in a ditch under fern and nettles, with a few peas in his pocket +which he had gathered in the fields to eat. The only other articles he +had upon him were a few papers and little books: one of the latter +being a strange jumble, in his own writing, of charms, songs, recipes, +and prayers. He was completely broken. He wrote a miserable letter to +the King, beseeching and entreating to be allowed to see him. When he +was taken to London, and conveyed bound into the King’s presence, he +crawled to him on his knees, and made a most degrading exhibition. As +James never forgave or relented towards anybody, he was not likely to +soften towards the issuer of the Lyme proclamation, so he told the +suppliant to prepare for death. + +On the fifteenth of July, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five, +this unfortunate favourite of the people was brought out to die on +Tower Hill. The crowd was immense, and the tops of all the houses were +covered with gazers. He had seen his wife, the daughter of the Duke of +Buccleuch, in the Tower, and had talked much of a lady whom he loved +far better—the Lady Harriet Wentworth—who was one of the last persons +he remembered in this life. Before laying down his head upon the block +he felt the edge of the axe, and told the executioner that he feared it +was not sharp enough, and that the axe was not heavy enough. On the +executioner replying that it was of the proper kind, the Duke said, ‘I +pray you have a care, and do not use me so awkwardly as you used my +Lord Russell.’ The executioner, made nervous by this, and trembling, +struck once and merely gashed him in the neck. Upon this, the Duke of +Monmouth raised his head and looked the man reproachfully in the face. +Then he struck twice, and then thrice, and then threw down the axe, and +cried out in a voice of horror that he could not finish that work. The +sheriffs, however, threatening him with what should be done to himself +if he did not, he took it up again and struck a fourth time and a fifth +time. Then the wretched head at last fell off, and James, Duke of +Monmouth, was dead, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. He was a +showy, graceful man, with many popular qualities, and had found much +favour in the open hearts of the English. + +The atrocities, committed by the Government, which followed this +Monmouth rebellion, form the blackest and most lamentable page in +English history. The poor peasants, having been dispersed with great +loss, and their leaders having been taken, one would think that the +implacable King might have been satisfied. But no; he let loose upon +them, among other intolerable monsters, a Colonel Kirk, who had served +against the Moors, and whose soldiers—called by the people Kirk’s +lambs, because they bore a lamb upon their flag, as the emblem of +Christianity—were worthy of their leader. The atrocities committed by +these demons in human shape are far too horrible to be related here. It +is enough to say, that besides most ruthlessly murdering and robbing +them, and ruining them by making them buy their pardons at the price of +all they possessed, it was one of Kirk’s favourite amusements, as he +and his officers sat drinking after dinner, and toasting the King, to +have batches of prisoners hanged outside the windows for the company’s +diversion; and that when their feet quivered in the convulsions of +death, he used to swear that they should have music to their dancing, +and would order the drums to beat and the trumpets to play. The +detestable King informed him, as an acknowledgment of these services, +that he was ‘very well satisfied with his proceedings.’ But the King’s +great delight was in the proceedings of Jeffreys, now a peer, who went +down into the west, with four other judges, to try persons accused of +having had any share in the rebellion. The King pleasantly called this +‘Jeffreys’s campaign.’ The people down in that part of the country +remember it to this day as The Bloody Assize. + +It began at Winchester, where a poor deaf old lady, Mrs. Alicia Lisle, +the widow of one of the judges of Charles the First (who had been +murdered abroad by some Royalist assassins), was charged with having +given shelter in her house to two fugitives from Sedgemoor. Three times +the jury refused to find her guilty, until Jeffreys bullied and +frightened them into that false verdict. When he had extorted it from +them, he said, ‘Gentlemen, if I had been one of you, and she had been +my own mother, I would have found her guilty;’—as I dare say he would. +He sentenced her to be burned alive, that very afternoon. The clergy of +the cathedral and some others interfered in her favour, and she was +beheaded within a week. As a high mark of his approbation, the King +made Jeffreys Lord Chancellor; and he then went on to Dorchester, to +Exeter, to Taunton, and to Wells. It is astonishing, when we read of +the enormous injustice and barbarity of this beast, to know that no one +struck him dead on the judgment-seat. It was enough for any man or +woman to be accused by an enemy, before Jeffreys, to be found guilty of +high treason. One man who pleaded not guilty, he ordered to be taken +out of court upon the instant, and hanged; and this so terrified the +prisoners in general that they mostly pleaded guilty at once. At +Dorchester alone, in the course of a few days, Jeffreys hanged eighty +people; besides whipping, transporting, imprisoning, and selling as +slaves, great numbers. He executed, in all, two hundred and fifty, or +three hundred. + +These executions took place, among the neighbours and friends of the +sentenced, in thirty-six towns and villages. Their bodies were mangled, +steeped in caldrons of boiling pitch and tar, and hung up by the +roadsides, in the streets, over the very churches. The sight and smell +of heads and limbs, the hissing and bubbling of the infernal caldrons, +and the tears and terrors of the people, were dreadful beyond all +description. One rustic, who was forced to steep the remains in the +black pot, was ever afterwards called ‘Tom Boilman.’ The hangman has +ever since been called Jack Ketch, because a man of that name went +hanging and hanging, all day long, in the train of Jeffreys. You will +hear much of the horrors of the great French Revolution. Many and +terrible they were, there is no doubt; but I know of nothing worse, +done by the maddened people of France in that awful time, than was done +by the highest judge in England, with the express approval of the King +of England, in The Bloody Assize. + +Nor was even this all. Jeffreys was as fond of money for himself as of +misery for others, and he sold pardons wholesale to fill his pockets. +The King ordered, at one time, a thousand prisoners to be given to +certain of his favourites, in order that they might bargain with them +for their pardons. The young ladies of Taunton who had presented the +Bible, were bestowed upon the maids of honour at court; and those +precious ladies made very hard bargains with them indeed. When The +Bloody Assize was at its most dismal height, the King was diverting +himself with horse-races in the very place where Mrs. Lisle had been +executed. When Jeffreys had done his worst, and came home again, he was +particularly complimented in the Royal Gazette; and when the King heard +that through drunkenness and raging he was very ill, his odious Majesty +remarked that such another man could not easily be found in England. +Besides all this, a former sheriff of London, named Cornish, was hanged +within sight of his own house, after an abominably conducted trial, for +having had a share in the Rye House Plot, on evidence given by Rumsey, +which that villain was obliged to confess was directly opposed to the +evidence he had given on the trial of Lord Russell. And on the very +same day, a worthy widow, named Elizabeth Gaunt, was burned alive at +Tyburn, for having sheltered a wretch who himself gave evidence against +her. She settled the fuel about herself with her own hands, so that the +flames should reach her quickly: and nobly said, with her last breath, +that she had obeyed the sacred command of God, to give refuge to the +outcast, and not to betray the wanderer. + +After all this hanging, beheading, burning, boiling, mutilating, +exposing, robbing, transporting, and selling into slavery, of his +unhappy subjects, the King not unnaturally thought that he could do +whatever he would. So, he went to work to change the religion of the +country with all possible speed; and what he did was this. + +He first of all tried to get rid of what was called the Test Act—which +prevented the Catholics from holding public employments—by his own +power of dispensing with the penalties. He tried it in one case, and, +eleven of the twelve judges deciding in his favour, he exercised it in +three others, being those of three dignitaries of University College, +Oxford, who had become Papists, and whom he kept in their places and +sanctioned. He revived the hated Ecclesiastical Commission, to get rid +of Compton, Bishop of London, who manfully opposed him. He solicited +the Pope to favour England with an ambassador, which the Pope (who was +a sensible man then) rather unwillingly did. He flourished Father Petre +before the eyes of the people on all possible occasions. He favoured +the establishment of convents in several parts of London. He was +delighted to have the streets, and even the court itself, filled with +Monks and Friars in the habits of their orders. He constantly +endeavoured to make Catholics of the Protestants about him. He held +private interviews, which he called ‘closetings,’ with those Members of +Parliament who held offices, to persuade them to consent to the design +he had in view. When they did not consent, they were removed, or +resigned of themselves, and their places were given to Catholics. He +displaced Protestant officers from the army, by every means in his +power, and got Catholics into their places too. He tried the same thing +with the corporations, and also (though not so successfully) with the +Lord Lieutenants of counties. To terrify the people into the endurance +of all these measures, he kept an army of fifteen thousand men encamped +on Hounslow Heath, where mass was openly performed in the General’s +tent, and where priests went among the soldiers endeavouring to +persuade them to become Catholics. For circulating a paper among those +men advising them to be true to their religion, a Protestant clergyman, +named Johnson, the chaplain of the late Lord Russell, was actually +sentenced to stand three times in the pillory, and was actually whipped +from Newgate to Tyburn. He dismissed his own brother-in-law from his +Council because he was a Protestant, and made a Privy Councillor of the +before-mentioned Father Petre. He handed Ireland over to Richard +Talbot, Earl of Tyrconnell, a worthless, dissolute knave, who played +the same game there for his master, and who played the deeper game for +himself of one day putting it under the protection of the French King. +In going to these extremities, every man of sense and judgment among +the Catholics, from the Pope to a porter, knew that the King was a mere +bigoted fool, who would undo himself and the cause he sought to +advance; but he was deaf to all reason, and, happily for England ever +afterwards, went tumbling off his throne in his own blind way. + +A spirit began to arise in the country, which the besotted blunderer +little expected. He first found it out in the University of Cambridge. +Having made a Catholic a dean at Oxford without any opposition, he +tried to make a monk a master of arts at Cambridge: which attempt the +University resisted, and defeated him. He then went back to his +favourite Oxford. On the death of the President of Magdalen College, he +commanded that there should be elected to succeed him, one Mr. Anthony +Farmer, whose only recommendation was, that he was of the King’s +religion. The University plucked up courage at last, and refused. The +King substituted another man, and it still refused, resolving to stand +by its own election of a Mr. Hough. The dull tyrant, upon this, +punished Mr. Hough, and five-and-twenty more, by causing them to be +expelled and declared incapable of holding any church preferment; then +he proceeded to what he supposed to be his highest step, but to what +was, in fact, his last plunge head-foremost in his tumble off his +throne. + +He had issued a declaration that there should be no religious tests or +penal laws, in order to let in the Catholics more easily; but the +Protestant dissenters, unmindful of themselves, had gallantly joined +the regular church in opposing it tooth and nail. The King and Father +Petre now resolved to have this read, on a certain Sunday, in all the +churches, and to order it to be circulated for that purpose by the +bishops. The latter took counsel with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who +was in disgrace; and they resolved that the declaration should not be +read, and that they would petition the King against it. The Archbishop +himself wrote out the petition, and six bishops went into the King’s +bedchamber the same night to present it, to his infinite astonishment. +Next day was the Sunday fixed for the reading, and it was only read by +two hundred clergymen out of ten thousand. The King resolved against +all advice to prosecute the bishops in the Court of King’s Bench, and +within three weeks they were summoned before the Privy Council, and +committed to the Tower. As the six bishops were taken to that dismal +place, by water, the people who were assembled in immense numbers fell +upon their knees, and wept for them, and prayed for them. When they got +to the Tower, the officers and soldiers on guard besought them for +their blessing. While they were confined there, the soldiers every day +drank to their release with loud shouts. When they were brought up to +the Court of King’s Bench for their trial, which the Attorney-General +said was for the high offence of censuring the Government, and giving +their opinion about affairs of state, they were attended by similar +multitudes, and surrounded by a throng of noblemen and gentlemen. When +the jury went out at seven o’clock at night to consider of their +verdict, everybody (except the King) knew that they would rather starve +than yield to the King’s brewer, who was one of them, and wanted a +verdict for his customer. When they came into court next morning, after +resisting the brewer all night, and gave a verdict of not guilty, such +a shout rose up in Westminster Hall as it had never heard before; and +it was passed on among the people away to Temple Bar, and away again to +the Tower. It did not pass only to the east, but passed to the west +too, until it reached the camp at Hounslow, where the fifteen thousand +soldiers took it up and echoed it. And still, when the dull King, who +was then with Lord Feversham, heard the mighty roar, asked in alarm +what it was, and was told that it was ‘nothing but the acquittal of the +bishops,’ he said, in his dogged way, ‘Call you that nothing? It is so +much the worse for them.’ + +Between the petition and the trial, the Queen had given birth to a son, +which Father Petre rather thought was owing to Saint Winifred. But I +doubt if Saint Winifred had much to do with it as the King’s friend, +inasmuch as the entirely new prospect of a Catholic successor (for both +the King’s daughters were Protestants) determined the Earls of +Shrewsbury, Danby, and Devonshire, Lord Lumley, the Bishop of London, +Admiral Russell, and Colonel Sidney, to invite the Prince of Orange +over to England. The Royal Mole, seeing his danger at last, made, in +his fright, many great concessions, besides raising an army of forty +thousand men; but the Prince of Orange was not a man for James the +Second to cope with. His preparations were extraordinarily vigorous, +and his mind was resolved. + +For a fortnight after the Prince was ready to sail for England, a great +wind from the west prevented the departure of his fleet. Even when the +wind lulled, and it did sail, it was dispersed by a storm, and was +obliged to put back to refit. At last, on the first of November, one +thousand six hundred and eighty-eight, the Protestant east wind, as it +was long called, began to blow; and on the third, the people of Dover +and the people of Calais saw a fleet twenty miles long sailing +gallantly by, between the two places. On Monday, the fifth, it anchored +at Torbay in Devonshire, and the Prince, with a splendid retinue of +officers and men, marched into Exeter. But the people in that western +part of the country had suffered so much in The Bloody Assize, that +they had lost heart. Few people joined him; and he began to think of +returning, and publishing the invitation he had received from those +lords, as his justification for having come at all. At this crisis, +some of the gentry joined him; the Royal army began to falter; an +engagement was signed, by which all who set their hand to it declared +that they would support one another in defence of the laws and +liberties of the three Kingdoms, of the Protestant religion, and of the +Prince of Orange. From that time, the cause received no check; the +greatest towns in England began, one after another, to declare for the +Prince; and he knew that it was all safe with him when the University +of Oxford offered to melt down its plate, if he wanted any money. + +By this time the King was running about in a pitiable way, touching +people for the King’s evil in one place, reviewing his troops in +another, and bleeding from the nose in a third. The young Prince was +sent to Portsmouth, Father Petre went off like a shot to France, and +there was a general and swift dispersal of all the priests and friars. +One after another, the King’s most important officers and friends +deserted him and went over to the Prince. In the night, his daughter +Anne fled from Whitehall Palace; and the Bishop of London, who had once +been a soldier, rode before her with a drawn sword in his hand, and +pistols at his saddle. ‘God help me,’ cried the miserable King: ‘my +very children have forsaken me!’ In his wildness, after debating with +such lords as were in London, whether he should or should not call a +Parliament, and after naming three of them to negotiate with the +Prince, he resolved to fly to France. He had the little Prince of Wales +brought back from Portsmouth; and the child and the Queen crossed the +river to Lambeth in an open boat, on a miserable wet night, and got +safely away. This was on the night of the ninth of December. + +At one o’clock on the morning of the eleventh, the King, who had, in +the meantime, received a letter from the Prince of Orange, stating his +objects, got out of bed, told Lord Northumberland who lay in his room +not to open the door until the usual hour in the morning, and went down +the back stairs (the same, I suppose, by which the priest in the wig +and gown had come up to his brother) and crossed the river in a small +boat: sinking the great seal of England by the way. Horses having been +provided, he rode, accompanied by Sir Edward Hales, to Feversham, where +he embarked in a Custom House Hoy. The master of this Hoy, wanting more +ballast, ran into the Isle of Sheppy to get it, where the fishermen and +smugglers crowded about the boat, and informed the King of their +suspicions that he was a ‘hatchet-faced Jesuit.’ As they took his money +and would not let him go, he told them who he was, and that the Prince +of Orange wanted to take his life; and he began to scream for a +boat—and then to cry, because he had lost a piece of wood on his ride +which he called a fragment of Our Saviour’s cross. He put himself into +the hands of the Lord Lieutenant of the county, and his detention was +made known to the Prince of Orange at Windsor—who, only wanting to get +rid of him, and not caring where he went, so that he went away, was +very much disconcerted that they did not let him go. However, there was +nothing for it but to have him brought back, with some state in the way +of Life Guards, to Whitehall. And as soon as he got there, in his +infatuation, he heard mass, and set a Jesuit to say grace at his public +dinner. + +The people had been thrown into the strangest state of confusion by his +flight, and had taken it into their heads that the Irish part of the +army were going to murder the Protestants. Therefore, they set the +bells a ringing, and lighted watch-fires, and burned Catholic Chapels, +and looked about in all directions for Father Petre and the Jesuits, +while the Pope’s ambassador was running away in the dress of a footman. +They found no Jesuits; but a man, who had once been a frightened +witness before Jeffreys in court, saw a swollen, drunken face looking +through a window down at Wapping, which he well remembered. The face +was in a sailor’s dress, but he knew it to be the face of that accursed +judge, and he seized him. The people, to their lasting honour, did not +tear him to pieces. After knocking him about a little, they took him, +in the basest agonies of terror, to the Lord Mayor, who sent him, at +his own shrieking petition, to the Tower for safety. There, he died. + +Their bewilderment continuing, the people now lighted bonfires and made +rejoicings, as if they had any reason to be glad to have the King back +again. But, his stay was very short, for the English guards were +removed from Whitehall, Dutch guards were marched up to it, and he was +told by one of his late ministers that the Prince would enter London, +next day, and he had better go to Ham. He said, Ham was a cold, damp +place, and he would rather go to Rochester. He thought himself very +cunning in this, as he meant to escape from Rochester to France. The +Prince of Orange and his friends knew that, perfectly well, and desired +nothing more. So, he went to Gravesend, in his royal barge, attended by +certain lords, and watched by Dutch troops, and pitied by the generous +people, who were far more forgiving than he had ever been, when they +saw him in his humiliation. On the night of the twenty-third of +December, not even then understanding that everybody wanted to get rid +of him, he went out, absurdly, through his Rochester garden, down to +the Medway, and got away to France, where he rejoined the Queen. + +There had been a council in his absence, of the lords, and the +authorities of London. When the Prince came, on the day after the +King’s departure, he summoned the Lords to meet him, and soon +afterwards, all those who had served in any of the Parliaments of King +Charles the Second. It was finally resolved by these authorities that +the throne was vacant by the conduct of King James the Second; that it +was inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this Protestant +kingdom, to be governed by a Popish prince; that the Prince and +Princess of Orange should be King and Queen during their lives and the +life of the survivor of them; and that their children should succeed +them, if they had any. That if they had none, the Princess Anne and her +children should succeed; that if she had none, the heirs of the Prince +of Orange should succeed. + +On the thirteenth of January, one thousand six hundred and eighty-nine, +the Prince and Princess, sitting on a throne in Whitehall, bound +themselves to these conditions. The Protestant religion was established +in England, and England’s great and glorious Revolution was complete. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + +I have now arrived at the close of my little history. The events which +succeeded the famous Revolution of one thousand six hundred and +eighty-eight, would neither be easily related nor easily understood in +such a book as this. + +William and Mary reigned together, five years. After the death of his +good wife, William occupied the throne, alone, for seven years longer. +During his reign, on the sixteenth of September, one thousand seven +hundred and one, the poor weak creature who had once been James the +Second of England, died in France. In the meantime he had done his +utmost (which was not much) to cause William to be assassinated, and to +regain his lost dominions. James’s son was declared, by the French +King, the rightful King of England; and was called in France The +Chevalier Saint George, and in England The Pretender. Some infatuated +people in England, and particularly in Scotland, took up the +Pretender’s cause from time to time—as if the country had not had +Stuarts enough!—and many lives were sacrificed, and much misery was +occasioned. King William died on Sunday, the seventh of March, one +thousand seven hundred and two, of the consequences of an accident +occasioned by his horse stumbling with him. He was always a brave, +patriotic Prince, and a man of remarkable abilities. His manner was +cold, and he made but few friends; but he had truly loved his queen. +When he was dead, a lock of her hair, in a ring, was found tied with a +black ribbon round his left arm. + +He was succeeded by the Princess Anne, a popular Queen, who reigned +twelve years. In her reign, in the month of May, one thousand seven +hundred and seven, the Union between England and Scotland was effected, +and the two countries were incorporated under the name of Great +Britain. Then, from the year one thousand seven hundred and fourteen to +the year one thousand, eight hundred and thirty, reigned the four +Georges. + +It was in the reign of George the Second, one thousand seven hundred +and forty-five, that the Pretender did his last mischief, and made his +last appearance. Being an old man by that time, he and the Jacobites—as +his friends were called—put forward his son, Charles Edward, known as +the young Chevalier. The Highlanders of Scotland, an extremely +troublesome and wrong-headed race on the subject of the Stuarts, +espoused his cause, and he joined them, and there was a Scottish +rebellion to make him king, in which many gallant and devoted gentlemen +lost their lives. It was a hard matter for Charles Edward to escape +abroad again, with a high price on his head; but the Scottish people +were extraordinarily faithful to him, and, after undergoing many +romantic adventures, not unlike those of Charles the Second, he escaped +to France. A number of charming stories and delightful songs arose out +of the Jacobite feelings, and belong to the Jacobite times. Otherwise I +think the Stuarts were a public nuisance altogether. + +It was in the reign of George the Third that England lost North +America, by persisting in taxing her without her own consent. That +immense country, made independent under Washington, and left to itself, +became the United States; one of the greatest nations of the earth. In +these times in which I write, it is honourably remarkable for +protecting its subjects, wherever they may travel, with a dignity and a +determination which is a model for England. Between you and me, England +has rather lost ground in this respect since the days of Oliver +Cromwell. + +The Union of Great Britain with Ireland—which had been getting on very +ill by itself—took place in the reign of George the Third, on the +second of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-eight. + +William the Fourth succeeded George the Fourth, in the year one +thousand eight hundred and thirty, and reigned seven years. Queen +Victoria, his niece, the only child of the Duke of Kent, the fourth son +of George the Third, came to the throne on the twentieth of June, one +thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven. She was married to Prince +Albert of Saxe Gotha on the tenth of February, one thousand eight +hundred and forty. She is very good, and much beloved. So I end, like +the crier, with + +God Save the Queen! + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A CHILD’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following +the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use +of the Project Gutenberg trademark. 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